Shema

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.  - Deuteronomy 6:4-9

The above portion of Scripture is a very important one in the Jewish faith. It is often repeated in morning and evening prayer services, and Jewish mothers teach it to their children before they go to sleep at night.

You know, some people just encapsulate the love of God. They may not know it, but their words and their passion for Him overflows out of their hearts and into others. Cole and I have met a young man like that recently... and through our sometimes long conversations, we have both been struck by his bold faith in spite of some overwhelming circumstances. As a result, he has managed to bring us closer to Christ as he just sort of bubbles over with God's Word. Something about this guy just reeks with the love of God... and it's the wonderfully contagious aroma of His salvation.

When I heard his story... I knew the people of our community of faith needed to hear it as well. So this Sunday at The River, we're going to hear a testimony that I'm sure will surely shake us... and challenge us to reevaluate our own hearts, and walk with God. I don't know about you, but in spite of my tenaciously deep-rooted self-centeredness, I deeply desire to love the Lord God with all my heart and soul and strength. I'm pretty sure this young man's story will do nothing but strengthen our desire to know and to serve the Author of Life. After all, we're supposed to talk about them when we sit at home and when we walk along the road, when we lie down and when we get up... right?

See ya Sunday.  :-)