Luke 10:27
And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”
I really enjoy listening to Christian music when I am working around the house. A song that grabbed my attention; Amadeo. Don’t know if you have heard it but it has a very catchy tune, and since the word ‘Amadeo’ is repeated several times, well, it’s just stuck in my head!
But, what does it mean? I did some Google research and found that one word, means a lot! It is an Italian given name meaning, ‘lover of God.’ Wow! Ryan Stevenson sings the song and the lyrics really speak to my heart. ‘You are still my God’ is the title.
Once when a a lawyer stood up and asked Jesus a question, Jesus threw the question back at him. Jesus asked him, “What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?”
The lawyer said “you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” This was the scripture that this lawyer would have known by heart from a child, yet he was asking Jesus. When Jesus said, “you have answered rightly, do this and you will live.” The lawyer challenged Jesus, “and who is my neighbor?”
Jesus then proceeds to tell the story of the Good Samaritan. We know how the wounded man was taken care of by the despised Samaritan. When Jesus asked who was the man’s neighbor? The lawyer had to admit, “it was the one who had mercy on him.” The lawyer could not even say, ‘it was the Samaritan.’
I wonder, what would make someone do that for another human? Amadeo…lover of God. In our time we hear of heroic measures of people saving others in floods, or fires, or stranded by the side of the road. What makes them do it? Amadeo
In the scripture we are given a lot of instructions about what loving God really means. When we love God with our heart, we may have that feeling of love similar to what we have for a parent or grandparent. When we love God with our soul, this is on a spiritual level, maybe in prayer and worship. When we love God with our strength, we help a friend move, change a tire, paint a room. You get the picture. When we love God with our mind, we are only thinking thoughts of His word and what it means in our lives. When He says, ‘and love your neighbor as yourself, now He is touching the very core of our being. This requires so much more from us than the rest of them, but it comes with great rewards as we can feel the approval of God, and you can claim, ‘Amadeo,’ I am a lover of God.
Being a lover of God is more than singing a song, going to church, praying and worshiping, it is also the hard stuff. Loving our neighbor even when their dog barks all day, Amadeo. When they park in front of your home when you need the space, Amadeo. When their tree falls in your yard, Amadeo. When they play their music loud…Amadeo, Am Am-adeo, Amadeo , Am am-adeo.
We hear the word in our head reminding us to be a ‘lover of God.’ Now allow that word to drop the 15 inches into your heart. Next opportunity you have to be a good neighbor, remember; Amadeo!
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