“And [Jesus] said to him, ^‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’”

Matthew 23:37 (ESV)

In this famous verse, Jesus provides the ‘greatest’ commandment in the Law. Rather than choosing a single Old Testament directive, He quotes from Deuteronomy 6 condensing the heart of the Law in one sentence. This series focuses on the final aspect of this command. Namely, loving God. . . .  with all your mind.

My growing suspicion is that few Christians in our culture make any discernible effort to love God with their minds. We care a great deal about stirring our emotive faculties toward God, but we often ignore our mental faculties at the point our education or vocation allows it. We use our brains if we have to, but we are more than willing to set them aside whenever we can.

Yet, we all want to ‘feel’ love for God. We devour worship songs and devotional booklets largely because of the emotional reaction they solicit.

[Before you misunderstand, this aspect of the faith is important. Emotions play an enormous role in our lives, but they are not alone.]

Meanwhile the church is plagued with a growing disregard for the role of critical thinking in the life of the believer. Few Christians devote any significant time to careful reading and even fewer practice any concentrated mental discipline whatsoever. The church is failing, in many ways, to love the Lord our God with our minds.

As we begin this series, consider the following…

• How many hours (yes, measure it in terms of hours) did you spend studying (not just casually reading) God’s word this past week?
• How many Bible verses have you committed to memory this month?
• What resources (outside the Bible) are you studying to cultivate your relationship with God?
• Based on your first three answers, are you loving God with your mind?