Welcome to “The Bridge”... an interactive forum that depends on YOU, your thoughts, your insights.
We will introduce a topic, share some thoughts and ask some questions. Your job is to add your perspective. Consider this a hybrid of Sunday School that you interact with at your pace. God tells us that iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another - that is the basis for this forum.
The only ground rules are as follows... stay on topic, no rants, nothing that tears down another. We want you to give insight, observation and perspective. We reserve the right to edit or delete inappropriate comments. That being said, let’s get started...
Jesus was teaching about the Kingdom of God and giving perspective to living in Matthew 22. Towards the end, Christ was asked which commandment - of all the religious rules that a good Pharisee would follow - was the greatest. Christ quotes Deuteronomy and reminds them that the greatest thing you can do as a follow of Christ is to love the Lord our God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. And without being asked, Jesus states the second most important thing we can do is love your neighbor as yourself.
Jesus is always more concerned with our heart than anything else. In this passage, Christ elevates devotion over activity. Jesus contradicted a lifestyle the Jews grew to know. An activity-driven life was what defined righteousness for people at this time. A comparison-driven life defined peace and justification. But that’s not how God sees life.
What about you? We all struggle to return to our first love - loving God and loving others. We will discuss the loving others in another forum. For this one, just focus on the first command of loving God.
What about you? How do you return to your first love? How do you practically spend time in the Word and in prayer? How do you allow God to saturate the cracks and crevices of your life so life becomes full and rich? Activity never inspires devotion. Activity without devotion results in weariness and frustration. Devotion fuels service. What about you?
Share your thoughts on how you return to your first love...
