L1 L2: Winterfest

This past weekend I hopped on a charter bus, as has been my custom for the past 11 years, and headed to Gatlinburg, TN for Winterfest. Each year is different and each year is the same. I always have "stomach issues" on the way down and always on the way back...I thank the heavens for Gas-X...and so do the people on the bus. I always make atleast 2 stops at the wonderful and magical land of the Donut Friar. I ordered a hot chocolate with expresso in it and the lady thought I was crazy. Guess they don't have Cafe' Mocha's in Tennessee. All in all a great trip and relaxing experience.

The lesson this year was really good. I'd like to share the basics of it. Matthew 22:34-40 Jesus explains that the 2 most important laws are to "love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength" and to "love your neighbor as yourself". Everything we do hangs on these 2 elements. L1: Love God. L2: Love others.

Sometimes we make things so much more complicated than that. "You must have a daily quiet time", "You must dress up for church", "You must attend 3 services a week"...etc. Often we have what I call Pharisiteous. We become the Pharisees in Matthew 23 that Jesus calls the "sons of hell". I think what Jesus is saying here is that if we focus on L1 and L2...all of the other things will fall into place. Also we must recognize that we can have L1 but miss L2. There are people out there who love God and enjoy worshiping him yet have racism in their hearts and are harsh to the strangers they meet. There are also people who love deeply and are great people yet they don't have a relationship with God. The two combined are the key elements Jesus says. It's not about the rules...it's ultimately about our relationship with Christ and our heart toward others. L1, L2...basic elements that give us the foundation to a meaningful life.