"Jesus didn't say, 'If you love me, honk your horn.'"

That was a quote from one of my co-workers at today's office Bible study. Contrary to popular belief, I do go to work every once in a while. I work part-time as the sales manager for a cleaning company that is owned by a friend of mine. A lot of our employees come from rough backgrounds and have been able to rise above addictions and other issues through this company. My friend who owns the company (well, I guess he's my boss...) is really good at sticking with people and helping them reach their full potential.

Anyway, we have this Bible study every other week and I am always humbled and amazed as I listen to these guys who spend their working hours cleaning up other people's messes. At the table today were three guys who I know have had a history of drug use and two of them I know are now leading very productive lives. One of our regular Bible study members couldn't join us today because he got locked up over the weekend for drug use. Interestingly enough, he usually has some of the more interesting and insightful comments, but he is just a slave to his addiction right now. So the quote at the top of this post was said by one of our group members today, we'll call him Tom. Tom used to run the streets selling drugs. At our last meeting, he told us about when he realized that he had to forgive someone who had tried to kill him once. And I have a hard time forgiving people who hurt my feelings. Today, Tom dropped this gem:

"Jesus didn't say, 'If you love me, honk your horn.' He said, 'If you love me, keep my commandments.'"

Pretty interesting, really. I know a lot of people who run around honking their horns but don't do much commandment keeping. Maybe I'm one of those people. This Bible study is always really interesting for me. I usually just sit there and listen. These guys have experiences that I would never wish for, but they also have simple faith that I envy. I always feel stupid when I hear them going on about the riches of the inheritance we have in Christ and I'm sitting there thinking that it's all so vague and hard to really believe. These guys have seen something in Christ that they can't deny. They're either fools for being so naive or they're exceptionally wise for recognizing and submitting to a truth greater than themselves.