We’d heard the story before of a dad and his young son taking a walk through the woods. Seeing a large rock in the path, the dad told his son to move it out of the way. The little boy pushed and pushed, and the rock wouldn’t budge. “Use all your strength,” coached the day. So the boy gritted his teeth and pushed even harder. The rock refused to move. Again the dad said, “You are not using all your strength, try again.” This time his son mustered up more energy without success. Breaking into tears he said, “I can’t do it; will you help me?” Smiling, the dad said, “Now you are using all your strength.”
God the Father is an expert at giving us tasks that are too hard for us. We see this today in the familiar story of a scribe questioning Jesus (Mark 12:28-34).
“One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him, ‘Which is the first of all the commandments?’ Jesus replied, ‘The first is this: Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’”
The scribes knew all “613” rules of the law. They also knew it was impossible to carry out all of them. Maybe the solution was to observe the most important one. In one sentence Jesus summed up every religious law that has ever been written. There is only one thing we have to do: love God with “all” our hearts, with “all” our souls, with “all” our minds, and with “all” our strength. This is definitely a rock too hard to move. We can love God with some of our heart, but there are other things that we love too, like playing with our grandchildren, or shopping, or watching a ball game. Sure, we can fit God into our schedule but there must be plenty of room for us as well. And it is impossible to think of God all day. Without even thinking of the other “612” rules, we realize that we can’t even come close to obeying the first one.
Why would God give us a commandment that we can’t keep? He knows our limitations, and that the best we can do is give him a certain percentage of our hearts, souls, minds, and strength. What’s the point, then. Is it best to just give up trying? Isn’t this like telling a high jumper to jump over a bar that is twenty-feet in the air?
When Jesus came to earth, he opened up new possibilities. As Son of God, he was able to do things that we mere humans are not capable of. He healed the sick by putting his hands on them, he fed thousands of people with just a few loaves of bread, and he took ordinary water and turned it into wine. He was the only one on earth who could love his Father with all of his heart, soul, mind, and strength. Everything he said and did was directed toward one thing, pleasing the Father and doing his work. The highlight of his day was getting up early in the morning and spending time with the One whom he loved above all else. Jesus showed that it is possible to keep the first commandment.
But…like the little boy in the opening story, we cannot be like Jesus unless God gives us the power to do so. When we want to love God above all else, we must first admit we can’t do it without his help. When we begin to seek him, he pours “grace” into us that enables us to go beyond our human limitations. Because he loves us as he loves Jesus, he wants to give us the capacity, the desire, and the power to be like Jesus.
Jesus we ask for the desire to love God first, the humility to admit we can’t do it without his help, and the grace to become more like you.
