Wednesday

“Jesus replied, ‘Do this and you will live.’”

Read: Luke 10:28

One year, not long after Christmas, we took down the decorations and the tree. My father-in-law had gotten my husband a power saw for Christmas and they decided the Christmas tree was the perfect item to initiate the power saw. But it took some assembly. Which required wrenches. And tool boxes. And lots of shiny gadgets which most likely did nothing. I looked at The Men, hard at work over the dozens of tools. I looked at the little 5-foot tree. And I hauled it out front, clipped off the branches with the loppers, sawed it in half with a hand saw, and rolled the full yard debris bin out to the street for pickup. Five minutes, tops.

When The Men discovered what I’d done, they seemed equal parts perturbed that I’d ruined the inaugural Power Saw Extravaganza and sheepish that they’d made a small task a bit more complicated than it needed to be. Likewise, the law expert in this week’s story tries to make Jesus’ statement into more than it needed to be. “Love the Lord your God…and love your neighbor as yourself.” “Do this and you will live.” But he couldn’t just leave it there; he had to push Jesus for more.

         It’s so simple! Love God. Love others. That’s it. Do this and you will live. Obviously it’s not that simple…our pesky human nature ensures that we wrestle daily with both loving God and loving others. But how often do we spend an inordinate amount of energy making things more complicated than they need to be? -AB

Jesus, I want to have the life you have promised for me. Help me to live in love as you lived in love. Amen.