My Inbox of Daily Inspirations: Daily Heartlight -- March 6, 2008

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March 6, 2008

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=========================== TODAY'S ARTICLE ==========================

Is It Really Enough?, by Tom Norvell

When they asked Jesus, "Which is the most important of all the
commands?" Jesus said, "Love God with all your heart and soul and mind
and strength. Then, love your neighbor as yourself. All the others hang
on these two" (Matthew 22:34-40).

My question: Is this enough?

Jesus said these are the most important things: Love God and love
people.

My question: Is this enough?

For those asking the original question, it seems the answer did not
satisfy. Jesus follows His answer with a question for them, "What do
you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?" (v. 42) After they
wrestled with the question Matthew says, "No one could say a word in
reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions"
(Matthew 22:46 MSG).

In chapter 23, Jesus speaks to the crowds and to his disciples: "The
teachers of the Law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. So you must
obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do,
for they do not practice what they preach" (23:2-3).

The rest of chapter 23 contains some of the most harsh statements ever
uttered by Jesus.

Again, my question: Is love for God and love for people enough?

What if it was? What if we took Jesus seriously? What if we said that
loving God and loving people is our goal -- that these two would be
priority #1 and #2 in our lives?

It's worth a try, don't you think?

If we would let loving God and loving people be enough, there would be
few arguments about following His teaching and doing whatever He called
upon us to do. He addresses this very clearly in some of His last words
with His disciples (John 13:1-17:26). Most of the issues we debate
about would possibly be resolved. He clears up many of these questions
-- hard questions we wrestle with -- in His sermon on the Mount (Matthew
5-7), but again, these all focus down to these two basic priorities.

If we would let loving God and loving people be enough, many of the
issues of "Who is lovable and who is not?", "Who is acceptable in the
Kingdom and who is not?", "What is right and what is wrong for God's
people to do in worship, in business, in marriage, and in all our
relationships?" could be settled. Or better yet, they would never
surface. It might bring some clarity to many of the questions we have
about how to take care of our planet, poverty, war, and how to interact
with people of other races and religions.

All these good things could happen if we would let loving God and
loving people be enough. So, we're back to the question: is it enough?

This is not a question to be answered only by the religious leaders of
Jesus' day, or our day. It is the fundamental question we all must
answer. As Jesus said, everything else depends on how we answer this
question. Everything else in my life depends on how I answer this
question. So it is rather important.

A new week is upon us. A new challenge is before us. Will we love God
and love people this week as of first importance? Will that be enough?
Will we let it be enough?

It's worth a try, don't you think? This week: love God and love people.

---------
(c) 2008 Tom Norvell <tomnorvell@mac.com>. Used by permission. A
Norvell Note <http://www.anorvellnote.com> is a weekly email
message from Tom Norvell. Check it out!

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Daily Heartlight -- March 6, 2008