When it’s time to write my articles, I always ask the LORD what He wants me to write about, and He always answers quickly. Today He said Galatians 5:14, so here it is: For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Immediately, that made me think of what the Lord Jesus said in Mark 12:29-31, from whence Paul wrote Galatians 5:14. Of course, Paul was writing to people who already loved the LORD, though he didn’t mention first loving God with all your heart, which went without saying here. Paul was teaching believers about how to have the fruits of the Holy Spirit working in them.
Everything we say and do in life should be about serving the LORD, and this one verse tells us exactly how we go about “walking the walk”, and not just “talking the talk”. The first five of the Ten Commandments deal with how we are to honor and obey God, and the last five deal with how we are to treat our fellow man. But if you’re not listening to the LORD to do the first five, most likely you aren’t doing the last five anyway. And that means you’re missing out on God’s blessings, and He doesn’t want that to happen. So in order to make it very simple for us to understand, He gave us the above verse. So simple in fact, that you would have to deliberately work at it to misinterpret it.
When I was in grade school we were taught about fractions, and in order to solve problems about fractions, first you must find what is called the “least common denominator”. Well, the “least common denominator” of the Holy Bible was taught to us by the Lord Jesus in Mark 12:29-31:
Mar 12:29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
Mar 12:30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
Mar 12:31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
Imagine that! It all boils down to just these TWO things God requires of us. And in doing so, our lives will be blessed to the overflowing. We don’t have to spend hours a day trying to figure out “What does God want me to do today?” There it is, plain and simple. Well, if we keep the main thing “the main thing”, then everything we say and do will revolve around it and there is no confusion.
It’s when people try to find an excuse NOT to do these two simple things that they run into trouble. You see, God really wants to bless us, but He has specific conditions that must be met in order for that to happen, and mankind, well, they think like this: I want to do it MY way. So it’s no wonder the world is in such a mess! We spend more time working to get out of fulfilling those two verses than we would if we would just DO THEM! And in doing so, we are just cheating ourselves out of God’s blessings. And all the while, the devil is sitting back laughing at us ruining our own lives, and he doesn’t have to even lift a finger to help make it happen.
We know the root of all evil is the devil, and what he brings upon us includes poverty, sickness, depression, fear, worry, broken families, divorce, rebellion and lies. Now understand this; just our obeying God doesn’t take the devil and his influence out of the world. But what obeying God does for us is to bring ourselves under the protection of God, and HE shields us from evil. If you want to be free from fear, worry, sickness and all the other trash the devil wants to bring into your life, the answer is simple: just obey Mark 12:30-31, and let God be God. For it is written is Psalm 91 some of the best Bible teaching of all time, that applies today, just as surely as it applied when King David wrote it. Let’s have a look; better yet, MEMORIZE it, for when the devil comes giving you trouble, you can readily quote it, not only telling him buzz off, but also reassuring yourself of God’s promise:
Psa 91:1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
Psa 91:2 I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.
Psa 91:3 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.
Psa 91:4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.
Psa 91:5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;
Psa 91:6 Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.
Psa 91:7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.
Psa 91:8 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.
Psa 91:9 Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;
Psa 91:10 There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.
Psa 91:11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
Psa 91:12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.
Psa 91:13 Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.
Psa 91:14 Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.
Psa 91:15 He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.
Psa 91:16 With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.
You see, God really wants to take you under His wing and protect you from all evil, but when you choose to ignore the simple stuff like Galatians 5:14, you are disqualifying yourself from His blessings by standing away and apart from Him. So, let me put it this way: if you’re not a Bible scholar, let’s just keep it simple. Galatians 5:14 is straight from the heart of God. Love Him, then love your neighbor as yourself. After all, you wouldn’t steal from yourself or hurt yourself, or do wrong to yourself, so don’t to it to anyone else, either. So you don’t want to memorize all the law? Neither do I. But all the law is summed up, both in Mark 12:30-31 and Galatians 5:14. Don’t just read about it, LIVE IT. And you will be blessed above measure!