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Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer, Jean-Jacques Rousseau wrote in 1750 – “Money buys everything, except happiness.” From this was drawn the idiom, “Money can’t buy happiness.”

Have you ever asked this question when reading Jesus’ teachings? Do you enthusiastically embrace some of His teachings while deploring other parts, particularly those that are difficult to swallow given our modern sensibilities? Have you ever rejected, dismissed, or ignored some of His more challenging statements as harsh rhetoric or hyperbole?

Have you ever read this amazing passage as Jesus tenderly instructs His disciples following the last supper and wondered, “Wait a minute, what’s new about this command?” Certainly, the command to love each other is not new. Leviticus 19:18 said, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” So, what was new? What did Jesus mean?

1 Kings 13:33 - Let’s walk through this passage together to make sure we understand it and then see how it could be devotional and affection stirring for us.

When I was a toddler, my dad would occasionally play old cartoons for me. In the 1940’s cartoon Of Fox and Hound, a dopey dog named Willoughby was constantly asking a fox named George, who Willoughby never suspected of being a fox, which way the fox went. George invariably pointed Willoughby over the edge of a cliff or in some other precarious direction. I suppose the moral of the story was that we need to be careful who we ask for directions.