Running With Jesus With Prof. Boaz Sample

On running with love

Matt 22: 35-39

One of them, an expert in religious law asked him a question to test him: “Rabbi, which is the greatest commandment in the Torah? 

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. This is the greatest and first commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.” 

The Verse of the Day is the most famous quote of Jesus. It takes us to the heart of the Bible of Jesus’ time, the Old Testament. The person who comes to Jesus is a Pharisee, a person who subscribed to hundreds of laws outside the Bible. These are called the halakha. These laws were finally put together in the 3rd century AD into a set of documents called the Mishnah, and then later in the 8th century into a set of documents with commentary on these laws. This is called the Talmud.

It seems obvious that this person was very troubled by the load of all these laws. He wanted to simply get down to the heart of the Bible. Jesus the Messiah gave him the answer: Two things: Love the LORD your God with your whole being; and love your neighbor with your whole being. The Torah was given to Moses in the Book of Exodus. These two sentences come from the commentary on the Torah, in the Books of Deuteronomy (6: 5), and Leviticus (19:18). These form the heart of the Bible. 

Marathons and ultra-marathons are long runs. Often during training one has to ask the question, “Why am I doing this?” If a runner does not have an answer to this question, it would be a very wearisome and horrible experience. 

This is the question that Jesus answered. He said, “You want to run this marathon called life? Get to the core of it. It is Love. Forget about all the various details and rules and regulations. They will not get you to the finish line. When you run, keep your entire being focused on two things; these are your two co-runners– the LORD your God and your neighbor. Love them with everything you've got, and you will be OK. You will finish strong.”

A Prayer:

Oh LORD, as I run this ultra-marathon called life, help me get rid of all distractions. Help me focus on loving you and loving my neighbor all the time throughout this run.