Lent: Day 7

Scripture: Mark 12:28 - 34

". . . The second [commandment] is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no greater commandment than these."

Hymn: "Lord God, Your Love Has Called Us Here," UMH 579
Brian Wren, 1973

"Lord God, your love has called us here,
As we, by love, for love were made,
Your living likeness still we bear,
Though marred, dishonored, disobeyed;
We come, with all our heart and mind,
Your call to hear, your love to find. . . ."

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, your love amazes me. In loving neighbor as yourself, you bore our sins to the cross, and put them to death as you died. You, God-with-us, called me your neighbor! How then can I presume to love myself and despise my neighbor?

This commandment, Lord, cannot be kept with words. Though I may sai I love God, I have lied if I do not then love my neighbor sacrificially. I cannot love my neighbor with cheap words. You paid a high price to love me.

Bless me, dear Jesus, with your Spirit's gifts when I spend myself in love for my fellow human beings. When I do not do that, Lord, bless me with a heart full of sorrow for loving neither God nor neighbor.