Just thinking a bit tonight.... Remember the song, "the hokey pokey"? Remember the line, "that's what its all about"? What if that is what it's all about, just putting your left foot in, taking your left foot out? Sure would be a bit easier to do this thing called life, wouldn't it?
I've been leading a few Bible studies around our place, trying to get back to the basics. Recently we studied first, second and third John. Doing so kinda drove me back to the gospel by the same guy - you know, the book of John. The three letters are all rather simple, each progressively shorter than the one before it. But all deal with one subject - love. Quite simply, John understood that the core of what followers of Jesus should believe and live is love. That love is shown in love for God (following the commandments) and love for each other. For the apostle you can't have one without the other. When I went back to the Gospel I discovered something quite amazing - I had assumed that John wrote the 3 letters as an old, wiser man. As he matured his understandings simplified to a core issue. However, when reading the gospel there is the same, simple message from beginning to middle to end - love. In fact, the very center of the book contains this "a new commandment I give you, that you love one another" - wha.... A new commandment? Yep, that's Jesus speaking.
For John, the beLOVEd disciple, the central issue, and the only issue that really mattered is love. Somehow we have missed that. Somehow we have made it all about doctrine and worship and things we must do and must not do and on and on and on. Oh that we would really get it. Oh that we would return to such a simple understanding of the gospel - love for God and love for others! That is my prayer. That is my goal.
Oh, and I'll keep doing the hokey pokey too - it's rather fun, even if it's not really what life's all about.
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