40 Days with the Jesus Creed takes the essence of The Jesus Creed as the launching pad for the great moral statements of the New Testament. It provides us with a steady diet of reminders of what Jesus calls us to. We will explore, in short readings for 40 days, how the Jesus Creed undergirds the Sermon on the Mount, the Love Chapter of the apostle Paul, and the core moral teachings of James (brother of Jesus), Peter and the apostle John. What I believe is that it is not enough to read a book once and then think we've got it. We need ongoing reminders, daily feedings as it were, of what is most important.

We do not make progress in learning to love God and love others because of a single sermon nor of a single insight. Instead, progress can only be made if we dedicate ourselves to an ongoing commitment to live the Jesus Creed daily. So, my prayer is that by spreading out these two themes over forty days, with a new theme each day, we will expose ourselves to the potent grace of God's love sufficiently to become more loving.

One more reminder. Neither 40 Days with the Jesus Creed nor The Jesus Creed can be as effective as they are intended to be if we do not commit ourselves to reciting the Jesus Creed in the morning, in the evening, and anytime during the day that it comes to mind. Here is the Jesus Creed:

Hear O Israel, the Lord our God. The Lord is One. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. And the second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.

This was the moral creed of Jesus and the earliest Christians. What was an early Christian daily recital fell away as the church moved away from Judaism. May the daily recital of the Jesus Creed find its way back into the daily practice of Christians today.