In considering the Commands of Jesus, we discovered that the Lord’s most frequently given injunctions in the gospels were not what we would perhaps consider the most ”spiritual.”

An old-fashioned phrase perfectly expresses the emotion toward which this command is directed. ”His heart failed him... her heart failed her.” It is that sinking feeling that comes when we realize that all hope is gone.

Envy represents one of life’s most lethal personal cancers.

In one way or another, all the commands hit us between the eyes. If we are paying attention. This is their design.

One of the helpful benefits in focusing on the Commands is that it immediately shatters our preconceptions about spirituality. The Commands act as a giant screen to weed out superficiality and false priorities.

As the church expanded and the hub of its missionary outreach shifted north to the cosmopolitan Antioch, one church leader remained in Jerusalem. That man was James, the Lord’s brother.

The companion volume to this, The Commands, opened with the command from Jesus: Obey my commands. This same exhortation is urged by the apostles in a hundred different ways.

In emphasizing the practicality of the New Testament, we occasionally encounter a command where the ”do” is more difficult to lay hold of than Do as you would be done by. Such is the command before us today.

We have spoken about growing in righteousness and the corresponding training that goes with it. One of the foundational components of such ”fitness training” is so simple it takes no extra time at all.

It is a good practice to keep aware of one’s spiritual rudders. These are the priorities and perspectives that keep life’s ship on course, moving straight and true, impervious to changes of weather and winds and waves of circumstance.