Mark 12:28-31 "28One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?"
29"The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' 31The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."
This section of scripture seems to me to be all about leverage! Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment (direction from God) was and he said "Love with it all!"
We walked through each of the parts of our being that God calls us to LEVERAGE in love.
Many times in Christianity we have an apathetic approach to serving and loving Jesus and I believe it comes from people who choose not to LEVERAGE all that they are for who they claim to serve. How many times do we see people come through the church doors and spend months and years trying to bargain with God and his church? I'm taken back with how people choose to start out with the smallest part of themselves possible given over to Christ. I talked about how these people really only invite Jesus into the foyer. Jesus is never allowed to check out the whole house. It's a shame.
Some people have so divided their lives that they keep Jesus at bay in the foyer or living room without ever letting him see it all. Unfortunately Jesus is never invited to the bedroom where the intimacy of marriage is carried out... He's never invited to look into the closets where all of the BAGGAGE is stored. People don't want Jesus to be in the bathroom where the coping medicine resides.
Today I challenged our people (and therefore was challenged as well) to LEVERAGE it all on loving God. What will be written on that piece of cement in a field that holds our bones? What is to be made of our existence? Will we LEVERAGE it all for love?
I'm convinced that we must teach people HOW to LEVERAGE it all. People need to know that the greatest thing Jesus said we could do is LEVERAGE and the local church is the LEVERAGE HOUSE where we come together to get encouraged and equipped to LEVERAGE it all for HIM.
"Jesus, let me leverage it all for you. All my being. I don't want to be in this thing for anything I can gain. I want to know when it's all said and done that I utilized every asset and every faculty to the best of my ability as leverage to bring you glory and make your name famous."
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