Principle
God requires total devotion to Him.
Explanation
The Bible asserts that GOD alone is to serve as our Master. He expects complete, whole-being devotion.
Moses wrote:
4 These are the ordinances and the judgments the Lord commanded the children of Israel in the desert, when they came from the land of Egypt: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. 5 You shall love the Lord your God from your whole heart, from your whole soul, and from your whole power. 6 So these words I command you today shall be in your heart and in your soul. 7 You shall teach them to your sons, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and it shall be immovable before your eyes; 9and you shall write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates.
10 “So it shall be, when the Lord your God brings you into the land He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you large and beautiful cities you did not build, 11 and houses full of all good things you did not fill, and hewn-out wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant—and when you have eaten and are full— 12 then beware, lest you forget the Lord who brings you from the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 13 You shall fear the Lord your God and serve Him, and you shall cling to Him and take oaths in His name. 14 You shall not go after different gods, the gods of the nations around you, 15 because the Lord your God is a jealous God among you, lest the anger of the Lord your God be aroused against you and destroy you from the face of the earth.
Deuteronomy 6:4-15 OSB
Jesus was once questioned about the greatest commandment. He responded by quoting the passage above:
34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Matthew 22:34-40 NIV
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