Remember the Fundamentals

A great way some NFL players spend their summers is putting on football camps for kids in either their hometown or team's city. This is a worthwhile opportunity to teach, share, and train young athletes in the sport they know so well. My guess is that most of these camps aren’t centered on learning complicated NFL plays, high-level techniques, or fancy defensive terminology. Rather, these professional athletes teach football fundamentals and show kids the foundation that helped them grow into high-level athletes. Just as kids need to understand the value of fundamentals before learning advanced techniques or terminology, professional athletes should never forget the important groundwork laid for them - even in the advanced stages of their football journey. As followers of Jesus, we desire to learn and grow while advancing in our faith journey. However, if we aren’t careful when studying God’s Word, we can make it too complicated and lose sight of what’s truly important at the core. Analyzing Biblical interpretation and understanding theological terminology can be important, but only if we are rooted in the fundamentals. There are many important commands and teachings of Jesus, but Matthew 22:35-40 describes a conversation where Jesus is challenged about the law with this question: “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?” Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”  Frequently going back to the fundamentals that Jesus made clear and simple, love God and love people, sustains our faith and makes it genuine. We must remember that God first loved us and sent Jesus to die on our behalf. As we embrace His grace, let’s respond with love toward Him and the people He created. Like running and tackling…it is fundamental. I’m Bryce Johnson and you can unpack that! PRAYER: Heavenly Father, forgive me for sometimes making life too complicated and worrying about the wrong things. Each day, help me remember to love You and others above all else...and please show me how to practically live that out. Amen.