With All My לבב

I just spent the evening with these two adorable children, my god-siblings. Listening to MJ talk about Egyptian history, while BabyGirl cuddled on my lap.  Memories I will never forget. I put them to sleep, prayed with them, then lay down until (I thought) they were asleep. Then, I got up and just watched them. I half-whispered a song of blessing...

May the Lord bless thee and keep thee

The Lord make His face to shine upon thee

MJ moved over, and I paused so that I wouldn't wake him up. Then a small, quiet voice finished the prayer.

And be gracious unto thee, may God be gracious unto thee

The Lord lift up His countenance upon thee

And give thee peace.

MJ looked up at me and smiled. "I love you, cousin." Then closed his eyes and went to sleep. I'll never forget that precious memory.

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I have been working on a word study that Clayton suggested, looking at the greatest commandment in Deuteronomy and then in the NT, and comparing the Hebrew with the Greek. It is so amazing. Here's just a bit from my notes...

The Hebrew word for 'heart' is לבב (roughly transliterated 'lebab'), and it means so much more than simply heart. One concordance defines it as: "the mind and every faculty - action, passion, disposition, thoughts, reasoning, memory, love, joy, and fear." It is not merely the heart, it is also the seat of the intellect, the very essence of our being.

I have been trying to find a way to explain לבב. One way to explain it is to think of a how a child loves. With full trust and confidence. It's simple logic for them to love. We were created for this purpose and this purpose alone - to love the Lord our God with all our לבב.

This may be the reason why the NT command has the additional clause "with all your mind" (Mark 12:30, Luke 10:27). The Greek word for heart - 'καρδιας' - doesn't have the same connotations as the Hebrew לבב.

Our English translations do not do justice to the original Hebrew. When I was reading it, studying all the definitions, I realized more and more how utterly far I fall from the mark.

But then I realize all the more the beauty of the Gospel. Christ came down and truly lived his life, his entire לבב, according to the will of His father. And He did so in order that we might also live and love with all our לבב.

(And I have a lot more upcoming notes on this word study :) )