Foundations for faithfulness - 1

Every great attribute of a person is rooted in the healthy soil of character. The roots go down deep into a rich and abundant source of nutrition. We don't see the sap running up the bark of a tree, but we do enjoy the fruit. We pick it and take home for our meals.

The Hebrew language has a word that is like the richest soil you will ever find or want to find to plant the tree of our lives. V'ahavta  means "You shall love". It is the summary of the 613 laws of Moses and it joins the Old Testament as well as the New. Leviticus 19:18 says, "But you shall love your neighbor as yourself." Jesus, in responding to a crucial question in Jerusalem, said, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself". Matthew 22:37-39.

All Christians who want to obey the Lord will find the roots of their lives going down deep into V'ahavta. 

Here's a couple of questions: What passes through my mind when I hear the word V'ahavta? Does it make me want to love God more? Does it inspire me to show love to my neighbor in a practical way?