Good morning! I don't want to spread the love or good news of Jesus today. No, instead I want to hold your feet to the fire in some way. Why? Of course it makes me feel good, powerful, a legalistic guardian of the faith, ready to battle waste in the Christian world. Have you used every penny and second well for Christ today? No! Then I'll dump some new pressure on you from my devotional high seat today. Don't feel like walking with Jesus when I do that sort of thing? Maybe if I get out my piety whip and use it liberally on your poor aching back, you will step into line. Still not doing it for you? The world is much better at beating you down, you say? Yeah, I'm there with you. We don't need any piety whips or reminders that we must redeem every moment and every penny given by God.
How about a walking, talking, friendly, and ever loving relationship with God's Son? Yeah, gimme some of that in place of the whip of religion. Yes, God has given me 86,000 seconds to use today. However, I can't even notice every one, much less thank God for them individually or make sure that each is used in labor for the kingdom. A few moments of pondering what I will have for breakfast, and suddenly many of those seconds are gone. Do I kneel down and beg forgiveness for that small lapse? Time tracking long ago beat me down in the corporate world. If every second is a gift, why then do I have to account for each like a POW captured in the Piety Wars? Imagine a family so legally uptight that the kids were forced to account for every second's usage of their Christmas presents. How awful! "Have you filed your Gift Usage Form 11778-rev. B for Aunt Hilda's gift yet, Bobby?" Yaaaah! Let me out of this tendency to legalism!
Christians may be among the worst at grabbing every rule in the Bible and beating up themselves or each other with them. The truth sets us free, and we grab a big bunch o' rules and flay about trying to whip us all into line. How do we even know that our line aligns with God's line, anyway? Perhaps we should first take the opportunity to walk with Jesus for awhile. Let us follow two commands Jesus gave us first. "And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.”. (Mark 12:30-31) Love, not overbearing legalism, seems to be the will of our Lord Jesus in these commands. Let us learn to walk in that every moment first.
God's love to you through the matchless love of Jesus in me today,
Bucky
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