I realize you have been a Shepherd’s Voice Magazine reader since its beginning and a Servants’ News reader from its beginning in 1995. I realize that you have read and studied widely during these years. I hope that this “most important thing” is something that we might all learn from.

However, I am a little puzzled that you clearly state it is your opinion— not a direct revelation from God or an obvious conclusion from Scripture. Yet, you are not going to tell us what your opinion is, but expect us to figure it out—today! If either I or our readers tried to figure it out “today”, we would have no way of knowing if we came up with your answer. In some ways, this reminds me of things little children say to tease others: “I’ve got a secret, you need to know it, but I’m not going to tell you what it is!” It frustrates the hearer and to some degree gives the speaker power over the hearer. I do not think this is an effective method of communicating the Gospel.

I would encourage you to write again and share your opinion about the most important thing God wants us to do. It could be a blessing to many. Till then, I will leave our readers with a few verses of the NIV translation where Jesus discusses the most important commandment:

One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” “The most important one” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:28-31, NIV).

If we set our hearts on this, and also realize “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4), we will certainly encounter everything that is important for us to do.