| Good morning everyone, Our theme for this month: “The Great Adventure” Our Bible verse for today: “He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and most important command. The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.” Matthew 22:37-40 (CSB) Our thought for today: “Love God, love people, and live life” In recent days we have been considering the truth that living the adventure of the Christian life does not have to be complicated. It can be fairly simple. Not necessarily easy, but also not complicated. We have learned that for the most part, God just wants us to walk worthy, and to live quiet lives of doing good to others, and honoring Jesus in daily life. That’s what Jesus was explaining in Matthew 22:37-40 above. Jesus was the great simplifier. He clarified, simplified, and demystified this business of living by faith. In the passage above, He taught that all the commandments and all the instructions from the various prophets could be distilled down into two matters of the heart: love God and love others. If your heart is right and if your guiding impulse in life is to love God and others, you will have checked every other Biblical box for living a righteous life that is pleasing to God. Too often we tend to over-spiritualize things and make them unnecessarily complicated. That is certainly true when it comes to discovering and obeying God’s will for the details of life. Often, we’re looking for a detailed roadmap that directs every step, dictates every decision, and for God to tell us if we should have Cheerios or Corn Flakes for breakfast. But most of life doesn’t work like that. I love the illustration from Dallas Willard about how when his children were young, he used to send them out to play in the fenced-in backyard. There were only two rules: behave yourselves and stay within the boundaries of the backyard. Beyond that, they were free to choose for themselves if they wanted to play in the sandbox, swing on the swings, play with the dog, sit in the shade and read a book, or almost anything else. Any of those choices were fine with the father. All he required of them was to obey a few simple rules and to stay within the boundaries. The children were then to exercise their own judgment and make their own choices based upon their personal preferences. For the most part, that’s how God treats us. Sometimes He does give us very specific guidance regarding things He does or does not want us to do. But the rest of the time, there are many choices available to us pertaining to all sorts of things and for the most part, we are free to choose as we please. As long as we obey a few simple rules of the heart (love God and love others), and as long as we stay within the Biblical boundaries given to us by our Father in heaven, we are then free to use our judgment and make choices based upon our preferences. I encourage you not to make life more complicated than it needs to be. Love God, love people, and live life. God bless, Pastor Jim (If you like what you’re reading in these daily devotionals, and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00, in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville |
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