Matthew 22:37. Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt LOVE the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
Oh Friends, I’m getting better! Glory to God! Yeh mih people, on this cold, snowy, Wednesday, winter morn, the ole fella’s getting over this flu bug, but just not as quickly as I would like. (smile)
I managed to nip most of the sneezing, runny nose and coughing in the bud, but the ole cold instead took a toll on me in the form of bodily weariness and a constant desire to sleep.
It always amuses and annoys me that we can cure so many serious maladies, but not the simple, common cold. We just have to allow it to run it’s course. And in this case I have to practice what I preach, just grin and bear it.
I don’t understand God’s reason(s) for allowing it – we never want to get sick – but since our’s is not to question why, just do and hopefully not to die, I’ll put my best foot forward and lean on God’s strength and goodness. Glory Hallelujah!
Now let’s wail our Wednesday Wail as though we truly mean it. ‘Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: I’m so glad to be alive on this Wednesday! Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: Thank God the breath of life is still flowing through me on this Wednesday!
I am halfway home. My hands are fixed securely on the plough, and I’m not turning back. I’m not looking back at the past, not focusing on what has gone before. But my eyes are fixed straight ahead; straight ahead to a glorious future with Jesus. Glory Hallelujah!’
Oh yes my brethren, that’s where our focus ought to lie; straight ahead, under the light and easy yoke of Jesus! It couldn’t get any better than that my people. Looking back at the past, as so many of us are wont to do, only stifles and retards our progress, growth and maturity in Christ. And that, we definitely don’t want to happen.
So please, let us just keep looking to the future, where God has wonderful plans for each of our lives, filled with blessings and goodness untold. And the best way I know to do that is by following Jesus’ command in our Bit. ‘Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt LOVE the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.’
Yes Friends, when we focus our thoughts and plans and everything else on God, then we are able to stay on the straight and narrow path. Now Jesus declared that statement after some smart-alec Pharisee lawyer tried to trap Him by asking: ‘Master, which is the great commandment in the law?’ (Matt.22:36)
And we have the first part of Jesus’ reply above. But then He continued. ‘This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt LOVE thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.’ (Matt.22:38-40)
And my fellow believers, Jesus was quite right! If we’d only focus and concentrate on those two things, our lives would be way better and our world would not be filled with so much hatred, anger and strife. But obviously we are not taking those commandments to heart.
And strangely enough, a prayer I read at the back of my mother’s Bible last night brought about this Bit. I know I’ve shared it before, but last night it just touched a concerned chord in my heart and made me want to bring it up again.
It says: ‘Father, we confess that we do not always respond to your LOVE as we should. By the power of your spirit living in us, teach us to LOVE you as we ought to LOVE. In Christ. Amen.’
And isn’t that first line the gospel truth friends? It surely is! LOVE, the ‘agape,’ brotherly, caring kind is almost non-existent in our world today! And that’s why we’re in such dire straits, plummeting down to the bottom, rather than rising to the top.
I heard someone say recently that at least 27 nations are at war in our world right now. Hn! How could that ever amount to LOVING and caring for God and each other as Jesus has directed us to eh? Under those negative circumstances it’s just impossible my people.
So what are we going to do about it eh? There’s only ONE right and sensible thing to do; that’s start LOVING God, ourselves and our neighbours more! That’s the only thing that will turn our negative, resentful, cantankerous world around!
Oh my people, what kind of world are we going to bequeath to our descendants eh? I do hope it’s not the one we’re currently living in. But that can only be avoided if all of us Christians, supposed believers in Christ, were to seriously come together, take up the banner of Christ’s LOVE Revolution and seriously and sincerely fight to make it come true!
Remember our Bit: it’s LOVE that conquers all! And not the lustful, romantic type either.
Oh Friends, I don’t know what else to say to get us worked up enough to truly fight the LOVE Revolution nuh, but in ending I want to point out one distinction that Jesus made in His declaration.
Moses told the Israelites: ‘And thou shalt LOVE the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.’ (Deut.6:5)
However Jesus changed the last part to ‘with all thy mind.’ He recognized that it all begins in our minds with our thoughts and ulterior motives.
Yes my precious people, the major battlefield is right there in our minds, and until we start thinking right and LOVING thoughts, the enemy will continue to have a stranglehold on us.
So please, let’s wake up and smell whatever it is we need to smell nuh, so that we can come together as the ONE body that Christ desires and fight for the LOVE Revolution tooth and nail, to provide a better day and life for our offspring. That’s what true wisdom is all about. Much LOVE!
…and the supreme call is…for Christians to come together…right now…in Jesus’ name…and walk our walk…
P.S. Please excuse the Bit’s tardiness, but between the cold and my usual late night shenanigans, it does make getting up early a tad difficult. (smile) But as they say: better late than never. Much LOVE!
SCRIP-BITS 