…but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Leviticus 19:18

It’s the second greatest commandment. According to Jesus in Matthew 22, this commandment, coupled with wholehearted love to God, form the basis and summary of God’s revelation in the Old Testament. Paul writes in Galatians 5 the whole law is fulfilled in this one word! That’s pretty massive. Both Jesus and Paul teach that this commandment stands above all, second only to the first. All the “do’s” and “don’ts” that prescribe how we live this life to our good and the glory of God flow from the foundation of this commandment! It is therefore of supreme importance in standing and utmost essential for implementing. What may be a surprise, it’s not even found among the Ten!

Tucked away in what is commonly understood to be one of the most laborious reads of the Bible, sandwiched between laws and laws and more laws, sits the second greatest commandment of all! Love your neighbor as yourself. Here are a few thoughts that come to mind.

1. There really are “treasures” throughout God’s Word. It’s worth the digging to find them.
2. “All Scripture is profitable” rings true, even for the harder to read books like Leviticus.
3. While there may be lots of tough material to move through in Leviticus, this one jewel, among others, sets it in the high crown of divine revelation.
4. The moral law of the OT is not annulled in the NT; it is rather amplified.
5. Just a little meditation on this one law brings much to light. All the laws and commands God issues us in His Word really have as their end loving God, loving others, or both. You can’t go wrong obeying and embracing God’s will for your life.
6. Imagine how much evil would vanish in an instant if everyone would live out this one command!
7. The Lord reinforces this command with the greatest and surest motivation possible, after the words “you shall love your neighbor as yourself,” the text simply, yet powerfully, reads, “I am the Lord.”