Last Words

Lately I have been helping coach a middle school wrestling club. We are just getting started and haven't wrestled any tournaments, but I have been thinking about what is said before the match. What do the college basketball coaches say to their team right before they go on the court? After reading a little in Brennan Mannings new book "The Furious Longing of God" he mentions John 13 and then it clicked...the last instructions before you go on the mat or court or field are typically the boiled down version of everything you have been working on in practice. So if I want to "get" what Jesus time with the disciples was about I can look at what he told them before he went to the cross. So I think I am going to spend some time reading John 13 - 15 as I prepare to celebrate what Christ did for me. One thing that I just realized this morning is that it is here that Jesus says if we love Him we will keep his commands and in this same chapter he commands us to love Him. This was quite a revelation for me because I always have thought I can't keep all the commands of Jesus, which ones exactly should I keep? Ten Commandments, all of the law, how about the sermon on the mount...don't look on a woman with lust that is the same as adultery etc, wow that doesn't help because the sermon on the mount only makes the Ten Commandments look easy. I think Jesus came to ask us, command us to love as he has loved us..."the greatest of these is love, love the Lord your God with all you heart, soul, mind and strength and love your neighbor as yourself." I am truly seeking to love as Jesus loved us.

Can't wait to see what else I find in the "pre-game meal" Jesus had with His disciples.
K