“Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” Matthew 22:37-40
When Jesus was asked what the great commandment in God’s law was, He said it was to love God with all one’s heart, soul, and mind, and then to love one’s neighbor as oneself. Indeed, “love is the fulfilling of the law” (Rom. 13:10). If we love God with all our being, we will gladly and willingly obey His commandments from the heart, and if we love our neighbor as ourselves, we will not disobey parents, murder, commit adultery, steal, dishonor, slander, or even covet what belongs to our neighbor. Our failure to obey God’s holy commandments reveals our lack of love for God and our neighbor.
Forgive me, O God, for failing to love you and my neighbor and keep Your holy commandments. Pardon my sins for the sake of Jesus Christ’s holy life and His innocent sufferings and death in my stead. Amen.
[Scripture is taken from the King James Version of the Bible.]
“Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father who is in heaven is perfect.” Matthew 5:48
What does the law of God require of us? In Leviticus 19:2, God says, “Ye shall be holy: for I the LORD your God am holy.” Jesus taught, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father who is in heaven is perfect.” God’s commandments require not just a good effort but perfect and complete obedience in our thoughts, desires, words, and actions. We all come short. We are all condemned sinners. That is why we look in faith to Christ’s holy life and His innocent sufferings and death on the cross for our salvation!
We are guilty, O God. We have not kept Your holy commandments. Grant us pardon for our sins and a place in Your everlasting kingdom for the sake of the holy life and atoning sacrifice of Christ Jesus, our Savior. Amen.
[Scripture is taken from the Revised Webster Version of the Bible.]
“This, the first of His signs, Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and He revealed His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.” John 2:11
Jesus’ miracle of turning 120 to 180 gallons of water into wine at the marriage feast in Cana of Galilee gave His disciples a glimpse of His power and glory as the only-begotten Son of God in human flesh, and they believed in Him. We, through the Scriptures, see His glory too. Do we also believe He is God the Son, who came into this world to be our Savior?
Dear Lord Jesus, grant that I see Your glory and place my faith in You as the Son of God and my Savior. Amen.
“You search the Scriptures, because you think in them you have eternal life. These are they who bear witness of Me.” John 5:39
Jesus’ Jewish hearers searched the Scriptures, thinking they could fulfill the demands of God’s law and obtain eternal life. But the Scriptures direct us to Jesus, the Messiah and Savior, and all He did to atone for sin and provide salvation through faith in His name.
O dearest Lord Jesus, grant that I learn of You and Your redeeming work from the Scriptures that I may trust in You and Your cross for my salvation. Amen.
“Iniquities prevail against me; as for our transgressions, You will provide atonement for them.” Psalm 65:3
We all have sinned and stand guilty and condemned by God’s holy commandments. Our iniquities in thought, desire, word, and deed mandate God’s judgment. But God provided atonement for our sins in the innocent sufferings and death of His Son that we might be pardoned and forgiven through faith in Christ Jesus. Through faith in Jesus, our transgressions of God’s law are pardoned and purged away in Jesus’ shed blood.
We thank You, O God, for sending the Son to fulfill all righteousness for us and then atone for our sins by His perfect sacrifice on the cross for the sins of all. Grant that we turn from our frail attempts to be acceptable in Your sight by our own works and look in faith to Christ Jesus and His cross for pardon, forgiveness, and life everlasting. Amen.
