Deuteronomy 6:4 is the famous passage that states:
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”
Essentially, Moses is saying to love the Lord with all of your everything: time, money, thoughts, relationships, desires…everything. Some Bible translations say to love the Lord with all your strength, rather than might. And I’ve always wondered about that; how do you love the Lord with all your strength/might?
When we look at the original Hebrew word for might, it is meod (pronounced m-ode). It is used throughout scripture to mean ‘very’ or ‘mightily’ or ‘greatly.’ One particular place that it is used is in describing how the waters covered the earth during the flood.
“And the waters prevailed so mightily on the earth that all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered.” (Gen 7:19)
The waters rose above and completely covered the tallest trees and highest mountains. The waters were meod. Now, take that understanding to Deut 6:4 – Love the Lord meod. Our love for God should be so strong that it rises above everything: the tallest of our desires and our mountains of fear and anxiety. Our love for the Lord should completely (mightily) cover all other things just as the waters completely (mightily) covered all things.
Today, may you love the Lord meod.