From time to time our family ventures out for a meal. The waitstaff ventures by and asks for our drink orders. Tommie generally orders water. She does not order water because she has to but she wants to. Now growing up if we went out to dinner and were invited to choose something to drink, there was little doubt what we would select, surely it would be a soda of some sort. Youth drink pop.
Water is far better for you. Our kidneys flush better with water. Our systems do better with water. Those of us who have battled kidney stones, know to be careful with too much pop. We have the freedom to choose.
When we choose to live out the commands of Jesus which ones do we choose? Interestingly the majority of sermons I recall hearing growing up and now at conferences and meetings focus on “The Great Commission.” “Go, making disciples.”
When Jesus was asked which is the greatest commandment, which did he offer? Surely he could have chosen one of the Ten commandments. He did not. Instead, he selected from the “Shema.” What Laurne Winner says is the first “prayer rubric” used in Jewish liturgy serves as the source of Jesus’ direction to his questioners. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all you soul and all your strength.”
We make interesting selections. We choose pop over water. Pop is not bad. It is not the best. Water on the other hand is healthy. Could we see our way to pointing up the value of the command to love God as “the” command to follow. Were we following Jesus would we then, out of our love for God, call out to others to follow Jesus with us?
Could we see the metaphorical selection of water a pointing to the life giving water Jesus offers the woman at the well? Love won out over the behaviors the woman expected from Jesus. What prompts us to make decisions marking us as less distinguished as following Jesus?