The problem is not with the repetition that God has made a part of life: it's with us. We are consumers of novelties, especially in 21st century America, more than any other culture that has ever existed. As Christians, I find that many times we start shopping for God, ordering just those parts of God that we think will fit in with our lives.

The emergency of human salvation may call for sharp warning and alarming exhortation but there is no sin in seeking for elegance of expression as we present the Lover of souls to those lost without him.

Of the many saints adept at attractive advocacy of the Savior, Augustine of Hippo and Bernard of Clairvaux are conspicuous. Their eloquence is inviting, their enthusiasm for Christ enlivening and enjoyable.

One delectable quote from each as an appetizer:

"Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship." It is unconscious -- what we gradually slip into without ever being fully aware that's what you're doing! What do you think you worship? Give the highest value to? Respect and reverence the most? Privacy? Self-sufficiency? Freedom? Security? Comfort? Health? To be needed? Work? What is our default setting? Worship of self?

How did Jesus view the commandments? In his introduction to his Sermon on the Mount he made himself clear. "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law and the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them." (Matthew 5:17-20) Jesus is referring here to the entire Old Testament. When we are tempted to think that the Old Testament is outdated and no longer relevant to us we must remember these words of Jesus. True, the Old Testament is only a partial revelation.