Thoughts on the day so far

Milking to be done, other chores too. Laundry to be hung up. The unpleasant but necessary job of cleaning an abscess left by a wound on the goat. Mustang grapes to be trimmed back and the list goes on. Clouds hang in the sky like drooping laundry on a sagging clothes line, heavy with moisture. The humidity is visible and you can smell. Damp soil, wet leaves. With all this work to do I will have plenty of time to think, to pray, to muse. Lately I have been wondering why it is so many that call Jesus their Lord, live so unlike him in principle. Myself included. His words so simple and really not that many, if you take all his words from the New Testament, you will find they hardly make up a booklet, but they are profound and somewhat radical. Treat all men as your brother. Give to the poor, doesn't matter if you think they deserve it. Don't judge. Treat others the way you want to be treated....does that even mean in political discussions ?

There is a site that has just the words spoken by Jesus in Matthew http://www.billywray.com/WordsOfJesus.htm and I often wonder when I read these words...what would Christianity be like if we only knew these words, and really honestly tried to live by them. What would I be like ?

When we are confronted by the difficulty of walking this walk, we quickly seek some other text from the Old Testament or something from Paul's writing that can be used as some wiggle room, gives us an "out", but honestly I think Jesus might just have given a serious talking to, to some of those Old Testament men that fell so short of the mark.

Jesus asked us to live compassionately, full of eyes that see others needs and not to judge them for their short comings. That alone would change the world.

here is another link that provides just the words of Christ as recorded in the 4 gospels, Acts and Revelation http://www.ccel.org/bible/phillips/JBPRed.htm