Tuesday; December 13

I learned to type on a manual typewriter that didn’t have any letters visible on the keys. (Actually, my first typing class was with an IBM Selectric typewriter, but we moved in the middle of the year to a school that used the old manual machines and I almost failed typing – but that’s another story for another time.) We didn’t have a “back-up-and-correct” key or a correction ribbon and we couldn’t use white-out, so we had to actually learn how to use the keys. We had to master typing basics, so now that I type nearly every day, I know what I am doing. Sure, throughout the years I have gotten into some bad habits and rely too much on the backspace key – but I do know my way around a keyboard.

The reason I share this with you is to tell you this is that it has helped me understand a biblical principle. When Jesus was asked about the important principles of godliness He went back to the fundamentals, “’You shall love the Lord you God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:37-40). In essence, if we want to live the best lives we can, we have to learn the basics – loving God and loving our fellow man. When we become adept that these, everything else will fall into place. The tough questions will be answered and the difficult decisions will become manageable.

Let’s focus on the basics – not just as a reminder for ourselves, but as the foundational principles that we share with the next generations.

Think About It!

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