We kick off 40 Days of Love here in a week. Basically it is a six week program that focus on love in many forms and fashions. We have a few commitment cards that people turned in. My hope is we get a lot more than we have now. Part of me wonders why on earth we as good religious people need an emphasis on love. We sing about love alot. We talk about love alot. We even quote bible verses about love. Yet here we are about to begin a more intense study of love. Did we miss something along the way?

My youngest stayed home from school again today. He is probably fine now but he was slow waking up this morning. That's ok with me. We had a good time again today. I also spent some of the afternoon and evening going over the gospels to review what they say about love. The results surprised me greatly. Jesus does talk about love from time to time in these records. But more than that He lives a life of love. He shows His love to people in all types of conditions. His basic message in the first three gospels is that we are to love God and love others. The disciples probably got it even better after three years of seeing that love in action. Jesus does not spend tons of time explaining love or giving lofty sermons on love. He just loves.

John's gospel underscores Jesus' understanding of love. It begins with the love of the Father. Jesus lives His life as a display of the love of God in daily life. He says very little about His love until the end of His life. It is there that He opens up to tell His followers just how much they are loved. Did you know that He never says unity is something we agree on or even vote about? He says unity is the result of love. No wonder unity is something we know so little about.

And so we begin our journey in a few days. Perhaps we cannot cram three years of the life of Jesus into a six week undertaking. But maybe we can start an adventure of love not just for days but for eternity.

Bro. Trey