The Writing on the Wall

When Barney Fife got the new convicts in the Mayberry jail, he wanted them to know right off that it was not some cracker jack, small town, easy out jail. Therefore in the eloquence that only Barney could provide, he lectured the new transfers: Here at the Rock, we have two rules: 1) Obey all rules. 2) Do not write on the walls because it takes a lot of work to get writing off the walls. Then he strutted back over to Andy and reassured him that all would be fine now. You've got to love Barney! They still have never reproduced, even with all the channels, technology, and variety, anything that even compares to the Andy Griffith Show.

This morning as I read our passages (www.lifejournal.cc) I was drawn to John's twofold rule to the elect lady (that is the church) that is found in 2 John 5-6- And now I ask you, dear lady— not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning— that we love one another. And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it. That reminds me of the words of Jesus when He was asked what is the greatest commandment. He replied in Matthew 22:37-40- And he said to him, "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. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets."
Therefore what Christ is saying is that the Old Testament is dependent upon it and it is the priority of the New Testament as well. That is a big deal, my friend!
If you think about it, all sin is either a direct action against God or a direct action against someone else (your neighbor). Therefore all we have to do today is two things: We need to love the Lord with all that we have and we need to show that love and reflect that love unto everyone we come in contact with. If we do those two things properly, everything else will fall into place.

Remember something though: You are not going to do it perfectly today, but do your best. You will get another shot tomorrow....and the next day....until the Lord returns or takes us home. Therefore we ought to be getting better at it.

Work on it today...and no writing on the walls.