To serve, the biggest command?

Question

Looking at the basis for our covenant with G-d, I noticed G-d said to Avraham (Bereshit 17:1): “Walk before Me”, which is sometimes understood to mean: “Serve Me”. And also (Bereshit 17:9): “You shall keep My covenant”.

Afterwards G-d Himself says regards this in Bereshit 26:5 that Avraham obeyed the Voice of the Almighty and indeed kept it.

I noticed some similarities when looking at the story of Mount Sinai revelation. First, G-d says (Shemot 19:5): “If you will obey My voice” and “keep My covenant”.

The people response was: “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient (i.e. we will obey and keep).”

Secondly, I noticed G-d's saying (Bereshit 17:7): “I will establish My covenant between Me and thee and thy seed after thee throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to thy G-d and to thy seed after thee.”

While in Shemot 6:7 G-d promises that He will take them as His own people and that He will be their G-d.

Many more similarities can be found.

These covenants seem to be based on two principles. From G-d's side the covenant contains certain promises. From the human side the covenant asks for commitment and obedience. It all starts with acknowledging G-d, and accepting Him as G-d, but once we do this, it seems one needs to show obedience (we make ourselves avadim, to be His servants, and He promises to be our G-d).

With obedience to seem to be such a big part of our covenant / relationship with G-d, why isn’t it the first commandment to be found after getting to know G-d?

Isn’t serving G-d the biggest Mitzvah of them all? One that covers all other commandments, one that encompasses the entire range of what’s being asked of us? Of course obedience and service is asked and commanded many times, but are there any commentaries which teach that serving G-d is the basis/main item for our entire covenantial relationship?

Answer 1

There exists a verse Vayikra 25:55:

כִּֽי־לִ֤י בְנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ עֲבָדִ֔ים עֲבָדַ֣י הֵ֔ם אֲשֶׁר־הוֹצֵ֥אתִי אוֹתָ֖ם מֵאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרָ֑יִם אֲנִ֖י יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם׃

For it is to Me that the Israelites are servants: they are My servants, whom I freed from the land of Egypt—I, your G-d Hashem.

Gemara Kiddushin 22b uses the verse as rebuke for any Jew who chooses to be a slave of someone else, but not a separate mitzvah. In a wider sense, one can view service of G-d as performance of the mitzvos, good deeds, and Torah study as it is well known from Pirkei Avos 1:2, or service as going beyond the letter of the law in terms of yirat shamaim and chassidus. With such an understanding one can use the gemara Brachos 7b:

And Rabbi Yoḥanan said in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai: Service of Torah is greater than its study, i.e., serving a Torah scholar and spending time in his company is greater than learning Torah from him. Torah study is one component of a Torah life, but one who serves a Torah scholar learns about every aspect of life from his actions. This is derived from the verse that speaks in praise of Elisha, as it is stated: “Here is Elisha son of Shafat, who poured water over Elijah’s hands” (II Kings 3:11). The verse does not say that he learned from Elijah, rather that he poured water, which teaches that the service of Torah represented by Elisha pouring water over Elijah’s hands is greater than its study.

Answer 2

To Love the LORD your God with all your heart, soul, and mind is the greatest commandment- for all else hinges on this.

This comes down to what is in our hearts, what motivates and drives us. If we love something more than God - then we will ultimately choose to serve it rather than God. But if we love God above all else, then we will in turn obey His commandments.