Love God. Love Others.

There are times in life when you just don't get it. When the signs are all pointing in the same direction and you keep going in the opposite. That has been my life since September.

• It started in early September with What If: We Decided Everyone Matters?
• Rick Warren sharing his vision for the 40 Days of Love campaign in Brooklyn. The notes page was titled "It's All About Love" and the scripture reference Mark 12:30-31 made me laugh at only hearing a message on it a few weeks prior in Baltimore. Then Rick walked out on stage and to my astonishment said, "We need to Love God and Love Others!"
• For days, I would tell people the longer version of the two bullet points before combined and story after story came back to how their pastor had just shared with them the same verses about Loving God and Loving Others.
  

There are tons of other times that the idea of Loving God and Loving Others has popped into the most random conversations or showed up in the most random places. The Gallery Church's sermon series right now Love and Be Loved is all about this idea.

I was reading a book recently and the author began to talk about our purpose in life. I was all ears. I wanted so badly to know what my purpose was. I couldn't wait to get to the next page and read what she had decided our purpose in life was. And this is when I walked straight into the direction sign!

What does the Bible say about our purpose?

The gospel writer Mark records for us God's greatest command:
"The most important (commandment), " answered Jesus, " is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with your heart and with all your soul and with your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself." There is no commandment greater than these." ~Mark 12:29-31

HELLO! I nearly fell off of my couch when I read that. I expected her to tell me that my purpose was to, I don't know exactly what I thought she was going to tell me, but I know for a fact, I didn't expect to hear Love God and Love Others!

So what do you do when God speaks to you? Cause clearly, He has been trying to speak to me for quite some time now. Do you listen? Do you act on what He has said? Or do you just push it aside and think that was some good stuff God told me and never think on it again?

I want to be the listener who acts on what God has so graciously shared with her. That's my prayer...that I would love God, first and foremost above all things, with all my heart, with all my soul, with all my mind, and with all my strength. So I can then in turn Love my neighbors as myself.