In Deuteronomy 6:5, God instructed Israel to love Him with all their heart, soul, and might. This command included the intellect, since in ancient times, the heart was considered both the emotional and the intellectual center of man. However, when Jesus quoted this verse in Matthew 22:37 to identify the greatest commandment, He pulled the implication out and made it perfectly clear: 

“And He said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’”

Matthew 22:37, ESV, emphasis mine

The Greek word translated ”mind” in the verse above denotes deep thought and the active exercise of the mind. Loving God with all our minds means that we desire to know God on a deeper level, that we embark on an exploration and examination of the intricacies of His character that He chooses to reveal to us. In our intellectual pursuit, we employ every tool available to us: God’s Word; the guidance of the Holy Spirit; commentaries; sermons; lexicons; dictionaries. But we don’t stop there. As the Creator of all things, all subjects point to Him, and so we soak up science, history, and yes, even math. 

As our intellectual understanding of God and His creation deepens, our reverence of Him skyrockets. We see the masterful plan of redemption throughout Scripture, the genius of His creation, and His omnipotent and omniscient sovereignty over history, and we stand amazed, like slack-jawed Israelites on the far shore of the Red Sea. 

But a deepening understanding of His worthiness also illuminates our unworthiness. A new revelation of the holiness of God is always accompanied by a heavier awareness of the depravity of man, and we can’t help but cry out as David did, ”What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You care for him?” (Psalm 8:4, ESV). 

In this exact moment, the Spirit reminds us that it is finished. Our debt has been paid. This is the crux of loving God with all your mind: an intellectual pursuit of God and His world that ultimately ends in humbled adoration of a gracious and merciful God.