I thought a quick search on “sacred command” would reveal what this really means. Not so. There are some who believe it’s the whole of the ten commandments and some who believe it’s the whole of the gospel and still others who say it is the law in its totality. Only Clark’s Commentary hit the nail on the head.
II Peter 2:21
It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them.
The holy commandment – The whole religion of Christ is contained in this one commandment, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy mind, and with all thy strength; and thy neighbor as thyself.” He who obeys this great commandment, and this by the grace of Christ is possible to every man, is saved from sinning either against his God or against his neighbor. Nothing less than this does the religion of Christ require.
And there you have it. Didn’t Jesus say the same thing in Matthew 22:36-40? The simplicity of it is its greatest power. Sometimes, we make our faith walk too complicated, to ethereal, too full of mumbo-jumbo.
If anyone turns his/her back on this sacred command, no longer loves (acknowledges or “fears”) God, more than likely, he/she will be unable to authentically love others, and person’s road will spiral away from him/her. Some might believe that they can love their neighbor without loving God, but I disagree, since love is God and God is love. It becomes a quality issue. We can love as human, but love through God is different. God’s love flows, like a spring, it is endless. Human love is finite. It just is. I’m sure of it. If it were not so, we would be able to love the unlovely more readily; we would not hold back; we would give freely; we would step down so others could step up; we would live the paradox of love.
Oh, Sacred Command, find root in me this day.
Meditations from Zion 
Ditto on that desire, Irm. I love this post. (Not that I don’t love the others as well.) This one went right to my core. Do I REALLY love Him? I have been asking myself that question for years. Do I love Him because that’s what I am supposed to do? Do I love Him because I might get a good return? DO I LOVE MY ABBA FATHER? I want to love Him because it is the empowerment that is necessary for all other acts of love, compassion, grace, mercy, forgiveness.. that can bring change, that can revolutionize humanity… one day at a time, one heart at a time. Oh, I so want that love.
Thanks so much for your comment. I know this has been close to your heart. I was really captured by the simplicity of it and frustrated with myself for continually muddying up the message … the sacred command.
Irm
While I find the overall message compelling, it bothers me that you put Republicans in the same category, and below “perverts”. This is one of the “tells” for ‘Christians’ that haven’t truly captured the essence of love. My church is filled with Christians that will give away someone else’s fish…but won’t invite a hungry man in to eat or teach him to fish. May you find the peace that God offers your entire life…not just your church life.