A Morning Well Spent

  “And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, (my italics) which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.” Colossians 2:13-14

  Sunday’s teaching was eye opening to say the least. Something was said that rocked my world and my understanding of what makes a good and faithful Christian.

  “The Ten Commandments were only given to the Jewish people, not to the Gentiles.“ Bruxy Cavey

  Boy, did that make me sit up and take notice!

  Jesus uses them to teach His followers because they would have been familiar. They would have understood how difficult it is to keep them. Prior to Jesus, the Jewish way, the Law was so important to Paul that he persecuted the followers of Jesus until his conversion which happened after Jesus' death.

  When Jesus is teaching the Disciples and all who would listen, He was building a love perspective in and around the Commandments. Jesus refers to them still making sacrifices for their sin because it was still required. (Mathew 5:23)But, then, He encourages them to examine their heart before doing so. If they have a conflict with their neighbour, they are to go and make peace before making the sacrifice. This is the love perspective He came to give to everyone.

  The need for animal/food sacrifice and the Law was still in place for the Jewish people even though Jesus was present with them because Jesus had not yet died for the sins of the world!

  It changes the way I regard what Jesus personally taught His followers. He used what was familiar to them. It was only after His death that the Disciples carried His message of love for all non-Jewish people to receive (with the exception of a few peoples such as the Samaritans.) Paul so clearly says, “Having wiped out the handwriting of the requirements that was against us.”

  These thoughts also affirm my perspective of the Commandments. In Christ, and through the love He gave the world, they become the Ten Promises. Although until now, I hadn’t fully grasped the significance of that statement. For that reason alone, knowledge of these Commandments remains pertinent to my life as a follower of Jesus. They can teach me what love is not because through the life and death and life of Jesus they transcend their original purpose of being God's rules to live by, the Law.

   If I accept the love of Jesus and love Him with all my heart and with all my soul, I won’t commit adultery or kill or have other gods before me. His gift of the ability to love freely and unabashedly will wipe clean these sins from my heart and mind.

  So let me think about lust for example, the seventh Commandment. It’s more than not having control over my body’s responses. I do have the power to control my mind, my thoughts. (Sometimes...smile...it takes practice.) Jesus frequently addresses the need for this, too, in His teaching.

  Physical lust dehumanizes, devalues the person who is being lusted after. It removes their God given, God loved person-hood and makes them an object. And lust includes jealousy, too, over a neighbour's new car for example. And greed. A desire for something not yours is not love. Lust is a sin but so are the cascade of other non-loving thoughts and behaviours that are ignited by lust in its many forms.

  So how does this tie in to another of the Laws, the keeping of the Sabbath? For me, life with Jesus is everyday. Every day is filled with God's blessings. Every day can be one of worship if I give everything over to Him with thankfulness and honour and sing His praises. Every day is a Sabbath, a Holy day, because Jesus is with me always. In Him, the Law is transcended. In Him I find rest. I don't have to wait til Sunday to spiritually "put my feet up." The Law of the Sabbath, to keep it Holy, transcends itself into every facet of my life so much so my head is spinning at the thoughts!!!

  Sooooo...sin is anything that is not love or motivated by love.

  Oh.

  (A long, long, looooong pause.)

   I feel a caution in my soul. Actually it’s a whole fire-alarm-bells-ringing warning. A broken ability to love can motivate me to do things, say things, which are not true demonstrations of God’s love.

  I love imperfectly. I love myself imperfectly. I love others imperfectly. I even love God imperfectly. But that is changing the deeper I delve into Scripture, the more I reach for the heart of God, the more I ask for His forgiveness when broken love does harm to others and myself. Simply because I know beyond a shadow of a doubt I am forgiven just by asking for it. The Bible tells me so.

  That is why Jesus died for my sin: to enable me to know Him as Teacher, Shepherd, beloved Partner, and the lover of my soul. Life with Him is rich with the promise that one day, I will fully understand and live my life from a foundation of the greatest Love in the universe. And then I will be truly free.

  Today is a milestone day. I can finally let go of the prejudice rooted in a broken understanding of love that kept me apart from Jesus, that I have wrestled with since I first accepted Him into my life, that has grieved me so. Thank You, Lord for honouring my prayers and for forgiving me of my fear, my pride, my weakness and misunderstandings about who You are and what the Truth You gave to the world is all about. Thank You, Lord, for the revelations of Your Word, Your Spirit, and Your teachers with a small t and a capital T. Thank You I have access to the Old and New Testaments without fear of persecution. Amen and woohoo!

PS: Thank You Lord for not letting me be too hard on myself because I have a long way to go. (Smile.) Help me be both content with where I am (I guess that's grace) and hungry to grow and change into someone who is truly a representative of You on this earth.