Each Friday my writing stems from a word prompt. Five minutes, one word prompt. The prompt this week is … Only.
The word had me stumped for a minute. The concordance in the back of my Bible brought not one verse with the word. Not one.
The dictionary shed this light: “without others or anything further; alone; solely; exclusively” (dictionary.com).
And that said it all as immediately the verse came to mind. Turning the pages in my Bible, I read:
“Jesus replied, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.” (Matthew 22:37, NLT)
The first and greatest commandment. One of the core basics of God’s covenant with His people.
Wholehearted devotion to God with all of our being, no matter what angle you may look at it from.
Jesus, our first and only priority in life.
Jesus, our hearts belonging only to Him.
Jesus, our lives exclusively and only His.
As our hearts, soul, and minds belong to only Jesus, the second commandment will fall into place, for Christ continues:
“A second is equally important: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” The entire law and all the commands of the prophets are based on these two commands.” (verses 39-40)
We will only love others well, when we only love Jesus first.
Jesus only.
Today I am joining … Five Minute Friday and Faith On Fire and Faith Filled Friday and Faith ”˜N Friends and Fresh Market Friday .
Yes, only Jesus! It’s so simple and true, but sometimes hard to remember in our busy lives. I pray that today I will cut through the clutter and see only Jesus. Thank you for your thoughts and words on this.
Sometimes the simplest things in life are also the hardest. Amen? May we stay simple and true to Christ!
You’ll have to visit my house online to see where I went with ONLY!!! YOU will appreciate it, so will Mom. xo
Susan, we did visit before seeing your comment 🙂 AND we did appreciate the post. And we appreciate you! xo
“We will only love others well, when we only love Jesus first.” YES! Put this on the door of every home and every church. We need to be reminded of it as we go out to the world and as we come home to our families.
Visiting from spot #30 fmf
Must start with putting it first on my own door 🙂 Thank you for encouraging me!
Great post! Jesus is enough!
Your words remind me of the song “give me Jesus.”
Joanne,
I enjoy reading different writers’ takes on one word. I love the direction your heart and mind jumped into- with Jesus being the only One we should love above all, the only way our lives should be directed….Love the Lord your God above all else….Love Him only. Interesting that the one word that had no scriptures specifically about it, wound up encapsulating the greatest commandment,
Advent blessings sweet friend,
Bev xx
Bev, you worded it beautifully! >> “the one word that had no scriptures specifically about it, wound up encapsulating the greatest commandment.” The one word. The greatest commandment. May we love God only! Merry Christmas to your and your family, sweet friend!
Great thoughts on the word only! It really does all “boil” down to just (only) that! Thanks for sharing….your neighbor at FMF:)