“...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.” (Matthew 22:37-39, ESV)
Greetings to you all in the name of our Lord,
Jesus Christ,
I feel like summer is almost gone as fall is
coming. So, do you have any new plans for our new season, like planting a new
cherry tree in your backyard or tulip bulbs in your flower garden for spring
before the first frost?
Maybe there are more, like harvesting plan,
cleaning plan, fertilizing plan and reorganizing plan, something like that. Our
life is truly a series of decision making each season as we plan new or old
things. However, depending on today’s decision among many choices, the result
might be very different later on. How come?
JY Ko, a 24 year old professional golfer who
has won two LPGA major championship this year, shared her own struggle of
focus. As she grabs her golf club before each swing, she always makes a
decision between the two options, a safe shot that is likely to succeed over a
more tempting risky shot, focusing only on that shot before she swings. In
other words, her decision is based on necessity and efficiency rather than the
desire. It lowers her score, which means better results in golf.
What do you think? It is quite insightful,
isn’t it? However, in our normal life, most of us choose the things we like
first as we put aside higher priorities. When we eat, we naturally choose our
preferences for our sweet and savory cravings over a healthy, balanced meal.
Even when we watch, listen, or say something, we choose what we like, and
sometimes, we forget about what we have to do.
"Way Maker" , Leeland
How about our spiritual life as we walk with
God to be more holy and perfect as God is holy and perfect for the Kingdom
eternal? Do we choose what we need to eat first, the bread of heaven? Do we
choose what we have to listen first, the voice from heaven? Do we choose what
we have to follow first, the lamp on our feet? Do we choose what we have to say
first, the message of love? And do we choose what we have to buy first, the
free gift of God’s salvation? Do we choose the Word of God instead of the
things we like to eat, listen, watch, say and have by our own? If your answer
is, “No, not really!” you are in the same boat with me. So now what is
something that we have to do first?
One day an expert in religious law came to
Jesus and asked what was the most important commandment in the law of Moses. In
other words, what should we do first to grow continually in God’s way? Jesus’
answer was clear, “Love your God first and your neighbor as yourselves.” It was
a short version of the Ten Commandments; the first four are about loving God,
and the last six are about loving our neighbors.
So now, brothers and sisters in Christ, from
now on, we want to choose something that “we have to” over something that “we
want to” for our healthy physical, social, mental, financial, and spiritual
life for our eternal journey to the Kingdom of God.
Brothers and Sisters in Christ, regardless of
our past decisions, we have a new choice today and tomorrow as a church
together and as children of God! It begins with loving God first as we get back
to normal routine of our life from this month of September. God reminds us
something simple so that we can begin right away.
“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it
holy.” (Exodus 20:8, NIV)
So see you all on all the Sundays in
September to be recharged by the power of our living God and love our neighbors
as ourselves! The kingdom of God is not far from us!
Grace and Peace,
Pastor
Kyochul
