WATCHWORD:
Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest? Jesus replied, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. And the second is like it: you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. Matthew 22:35-40
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8
Meditation:
Faith Reminder
Do you remember those little yellow rubber bracelets being worn that bear the letters WWJD? Of course you do. “What Would Jesus Do?” was the reminder do what was right and not be driven by other influences.
One of my favorite people from my past was Mrs. Sheldon Scott, a friend of the family, the wife of my father’s best friend, and my piano teacher. Always positive and loving…most of the time. A complement from her was always given with a little hug and a great smile. A correction, on the other hand, well, I can almost hear her voice, with an edge, “Stanley, you must practice each day.” or “Stanley, your fingers…curve them above the keys.” “Stanley, sit up straight.” Reminders, prefaced with “Stanley…” Her goal for me, I later realized, was to bring out the gift that she knew was within me, and each of her piano students. Her voice was like that little bracelet, a reminder. Unfortunately, I let her down…never got the knack. Missed the gift. Let me tell you, I’ve had my regrets.
I thought about Mrs. Scott during my time of sharing with the Lord, and wondered about the place of reminders, both positives and correctives. What if we did wear a yellow rubber bracelet with just three or four words. Then every now and then, we would happen to see the reminder and it would cause us to review what we were doing, how we were doing it, what we are saying, and the nature of our relationship with others, as we go through each day.
What would be written on the bracelet? It might be slightly different for you than for me. But, you and I would both know exactly what was there, and the little reminder may cause us to evaluate, and follow our Lord. It’s not easy, but neither is it complicated. My guess is it would be something simple like “Love God, love others” Oh, wait! We already have that reminder. Well, I’ll be darned. There they are, those very words…“Love God, love self, love others”.
Our knowledge of the Bible may be limited but we know full well what our loving God wants from us – love. He says to each one of us, “This is what I require of you, to act justly, to love mercy and to walk humble with Me.” Those are all pieces of love.
Through my childhood, the persisting voice wasn’t Mrs. Scott, it was more like “Jesus loves me, this I know for the Bible tells me so.” Throughout my life I have become aware of the Holy Spirit, a gift reminder from God, and His words come to me through one song after another — Amazing Grace, Surely the Presence of the Lord is in this place, Be Thou My Vision, Abide with Me, etc. — and joy fills my heart, and I know that God loves me. These are just some of the many ways He hugs me and smiles.
God loves us, we are his children, and even through the ups and the downs of our respective lives, each is a lesson, each is teaching us something important, and each is preparing us for what lies just around the next bend. Reminders are good, a little blessed nagging would probably improve our lives immensely. Pay attention, your reminder is built-in. Listen. So be it.
Prayer for Reminders:
Heavenly Father, so many times we know the right way to go, the right words to say, the right things to do, but, we get diverted. We get caught up by our own comfort, our own pride, our own reputation, our need to be accepted by others. Bring us back to Your Word, Lord. Improve our Spiritual hearing. Bring us back to the simplicity and the purity of walking with You. It is with gratitude for the gifts and graces you have already given us. We offer these prayers in Jesus’ name. Amen.
