We who believe in God are really following the Judeo Christian principals set before us in the scripture. My family is made up of both Christians and Jews. My mother was born in Russia of Jewish parents and my father was born in Italy of Catholic parents. I believe this gives me a different perspective than most.
Whether you accept Jesus as the messiah or not you are following the same path. This is really made evident when Jesus is asked which of the commandments was the most important. In Matthew, Mark and Luke we are told what Jesus answers. In Matthew 22 starting with verse 36 Jesus is asked which is the great commandment in the law and He says “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 ”. What’s interesting is that the first commandment Jesus mentions is a quote from Deuteronomy 6:5 which is called The Schema-ah. I’m not sure of the spelling, I urge you to read the scripture. I believe the second commandment is also part of both denominations. By the way both are united with God under the same covenant that God made with Abraham. I mention this to tie us all together.
This being the case, tell me why the different denominations have developed so many rules and regulations pertaining to worship. These practices seem to be either a stumbling block or a way of making one feel good about themselves so they don’t feel guilty about the other things they do. Either way they take the focus off the most important things the scripture asks us to do.
Not that we shouldn’t try but being human we fail the test all to often and the guilt that comes from these failures can be devastating to some. This also produces fear in others which can drive them to the edge. To some this may be taken to mean that I’m giving license to ignore ethical practices. Please be assured that this isn’t the case, however I believe our relationship with God should be pleasant and nurturing.
Think about this for a second, if one was to focus on learning to love God and learning to love their fellow man what would be the result. To my mind the result would be a complete change in attitude and practices towards others. I believe the most devastating thing we face today is our apparent inability to give thought to the welfare of others. How often do you consider whether or not all the folks in your neighborhood have enough to eat? When holidays come do you ever look for a family that you might be able make things a little brighter for? Do you ever think about the older folks in your area and what they may be needing. There are so many ways for you and I to step up and fulfill these commandments. By doing so we will be showing God that we love him. In our own families there are probably fences to mend and relatives to assist.
Perhaps it would do us a lot more good to focus on these commandments than to be so concerned with fulfilling man made rules. Not that we shouldn’t aspire to be the best that our particular denomination wants us to be but we should set priorities and take care of the most important tasks first.
A word of caution concerning taking a step to help others. Since not all people are as trust worthy and pleasant as you may be, care in the choices we make is important. Husbands and wives should venture out together and young folks should never act without the consent and knowledge of their parents.
