I was really impacted by the line in the movie that I shared last Friday:

I’m afraid I’m too old-fashioned to believe that what I want is the only thing that matters. – Lady Mary to a movie director in Downton Abbey: A New Era

I shared it in a conversation with a pastor who is struggling with some parishioners who don’t seem to believe that some things are right and others are wrong. “We just want to follow Jesus!” But, as the pastor pointed out, following Jesus is about obedience:

If you love me, you will keep my commandments…Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. (John 14.15…21, ESV)

We could paraphrase Lady Mary slightly to make the quote stand alone:

What I want is NOT all that matters.

The Apostle Paul said there a lot of things that don’t matter but what does matter is…

…keeping the commandments of God. (1 Corinthians 7.19)

I shared the Lady Mary story the next day with someone involved in youth ministry, and he had an intriguing response. We’ll look at it tomorrow.