Lent 2014 - March 24

MARCH 24 – Mark 12:28-31
By: Sue Leffin

RULES, RULES, RULES! Brush your teeth up and down; say your “ pleases and thank you’s”; be polite to your elders; don’t eat with your mouth open; don’t touch anything; red means stop, green means go…..well, you get the picture. In Jesus’ time research shows that there were over 300 rules or
what NOT to do and over 200 for what TO do. There were even people who interpreted the rules.

Imagine how complicated it all was. But Jesus simplified the rules for everyone with just a few words.

When asked what He thought was the most important commandment…well, it was this simple: 29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

These words guide our lives and mission. We at St. Stephen “get it”. I pray that your Lenten season is uncomplicated and that the distractions of the world melt away when you remember God‘s gift of Jesus – sent to simplify our lives to one word…LOVE!

Prayer
Lord, in a world of rules, help me to remember that one simple, uncomplicated thing You gave me….LOVE!Amen.