^“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.”

Sometimes it is right in front of our eyes, but we can’t see it.  Right in front of our eyes now, traditional retail (as we have known it) is flat-lining.

From the New York Times this past week:  “More workers in general merchandise stores have been laid off since October, about 89,000 Americans…” This is more than entire other industries. I  grew up enjoying wandering around the multiple stores in a mall, taking hours at a time to browse racks upon racks and even when I walked away (too bad we didn’t have Fitbits to measure steps then) I felt “okay”. Some kind of entertainment or progress had occurred.  And then I, like everyone else, would do it again over and over…walking the mall, thinking that something new might jump out at us. (BTW, I also have this same feeling sometimes when staring at the refrigerator).  But, it has become clear that these days are gone…for good.  How many years until the mall is torn down and something else stands there?  And, how long until each traditional retail store that we once knew is gone…for good?  Is this not the power of the internet to crash the future into us like the asteroid that could have hit Earth last week?

When we consider all of this change in our society, it becomes even more important that we hold to our own context to assuredly place and secure what is happening, versus having the context created for us.  God gave us a totally clear understanding of how we are to contextualize and place every action – Love Him first and then love others!  Anything that runs counter to that for us, runs counter to what He told us on how the world would show up in front of our eyes.

Reference:   Matthew 22: 39-41 (New Living Translation)