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TAMMUZ 4

You SHALL

“and you are to love Adonai your God…” (Deu 6:5 CJB)

As part of the definition of the word ‘love,’ Noah Webster lists the following: “we love whatever gives us pleasure and delight, whether animal or intellectual; and IF OUR HEARTS ARE RIGHT, we love God above all things, as the sum of all excellence and all the attributes which can communicate happiness to intelligent beings”[1] (emphasis mine). If our ‘hearts being right’ is a prerequisite for our being able to love our Elohim, how will we know if our ‘hearts are right’?

I believe that Deu 6:4 plays a large part in this explanation. It is very difficult to show love and affection for someone that you do not know, recognize, and accept for whom and what they are; in this case, we know and confess Adonai our Elohim as THE Elohim, the only Elohim, and a sovereign King that we choose to submit to. With this recognition and submission, we have established the beginning of our love relationship.

“Beloved ones, let us love one another, because love is of Elohim, and everyone who loves has been born of Elohim, and KNOWS Elohim. The one who does not love does not KNOW Elohim, for Elohim is love.” (1John 4:7-8, emphasis mine)

The instructions given in our opening verse are not optional; this is not something we do when we feel like it. If we claim to be part of the remnant that recognizes and accepts the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as our own, then we shall, we will, we must love our Elohim.

“So now, O Israel, what does Adonai your God require of you, but to fear Adonai your God, to walk in all His ways and LOVE HIM, and to serve Adonai your God with all your heart and with all your soul…” (Deu 10:12, emphasis mine)

‘Nuf said …

©2025 

[1]American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1828