Luke 10:25–28 (NKJV) — 25 And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and
tested Him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He
said to him, “What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?” 27 So
he answered and said, “ ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your
heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and
‘your neighbor as yourself.’ ” 28 And He said to him, “You have answered
rightly; do this and you will live.”
There is the natural desire to live forever. God put within Adam and Eve that
desire to walk with God in the “Garden” for eternity. They would walk with
God daily.
Then along came Satan. He brought questions about God’s Word to their
minds. Did they hear God correctly? Did they interpret His Words accurately?
The slivering serpent brought deception into the lives all humans in this one
encounter, “Did God really say?” We should read God’s Word to have a
greater understanding.
The “certain lawyer” asked the question not for clarification but to entrap
Jesus in His own words. Jesus turned the table on this man. Jesus quoted
the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4) to him. Jesus said “do this and you shall
live.” Our love for Jesus is indicated by how much we love others. “Who is
my neighbor?” Of course, Jesus answers this with the parable of the “Good
Samaritan.” But there is a deeper meaning. Is my love for Jesus just
founded in having eternal life? Paul writes in Ephesians 3:17–19, “that Christ
may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded
in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width
and length and depth and height—19 to know the love of Christ which
passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of
God.
Eternal life does not begin at death. It begins at conception. The main, most
important decision we can make in this life is, “Have I truly accepted Christ
into my life?” To love Christ is to love people. To love Christ is to give my life
to Him each day all day long. It is to allow the love of Christ to give to Him
without any expectation of return. It is the way a husband loves his wife. He
knows that without her his life is unfulfilled, empty and she is always in his
thoughts. He loves her so much that he will make any sacrifice for her.
Above everything his bride is in his thoughts. This is the love we are to have
for Christ. This “certain lawyer” knew the words of the Shema in his head.
He did not know them in his heart. He went through the rituals of the faith
without understanding the faith.