BOOKS MAKE GREAT GIFTS!

Last Sunday we enjoyed a fine worship service by a young new pastor, and it lasted 90 minutes! That's a long time for a bunch of old Lutheran folks to worship, even when the sermon, liturgy and prayers are presented so well.

Someone wrote me last summer that some of my WEEKLY MESSAGEs were "getting rather long." He wanted me to make them "short and sweet." He didn't say, but maybe some of them had gotten too "long and sour!"

We live in an age of getting things quickly, with instant gratification in our technology and fast foods in our diet. More and more people would rather read a summary version than the book itself. Or maybe they'll until the book is made into a movie. Or maybe they'll read an electronic version of the book, that is, if they want to read at all.

Instant gratification can carry over into our Christian faith. Services lasting two or three hours were commonplace a hundred years ago, but they are the subject of jokes today. And sitting on hard, unpadded pews! How could they stand it? It is difficult for people to sit and wait so long, even for the blessings of God.

But even Jesus summarized things. In Matthew 22, some Pharisees asked Jesus “Which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus responded, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment." 

Instead of listing just one commandment of the Ten, Jesus gave them the summary of the First Three Commandments, "Love God above all things." Short and sweet! Jesus knew the modern mind even long ago. 

This summary is first given in Deuteronomy 6:5 by Moses, the aged Israelite leader, who spent his last days reminding the people of God's blessings by delivering them from Egyptian slavery. Their delivery was miraculous, he said, so the people should "Love God above all things." Nothing is more important than that, whether in Moses' day or our own. 

How can we show that we love God above all things in our life? Maybe by slowing down a little when we're in the presence of God. What does it mean to love God? There are several kinds of love. Which kind of love does God show us each day?

Dear Father, thank You for delivering us from slavery to sin. Help us love and serve You, amen.

BOOKS MAKE GREAT GIFTS!

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