A full plate today, Father, but thank You for Your guiding hand from start to finish. Bless Your holy name!
Luke 10:25-28 (<<click to read the passage)
Directions can be difficult to follow. For example, this past winter we got a pre-lit 7-foot Pop-up Twinkling Snowman for our front yard Christmas display. On the box in bold letters, it clearly displayed “ASSEMBLE IN 4 EASY STEPS”. Well, you didn’t have to be a rocket scientist to do it but, at least for me, it was a lot more than four easy steps! (Getting it back into the box after Christmas was a whole other story!)
Many things come with instructions on how to put them together – everything from Tinkertoys to bicycles and bookcases. What helps a lot is when written directions are accompanied by pictures. Usually, there is a parts list – with pictures – and then a step-by-step guide to assembly – again with pictures to assist us in getting the desired completed project.
They can be a challenge but, in most cases, we find success if we just follow the directions! That is why they come with whatever we are trying to put together and pictures are a definite asset!
In today’s passage, Jesus is approached by an “expert in religious law”, that is the Law that was given to Moses almost 1,500 years before this interaction. He puts forth a straightforward question to “test” Jesus. He asked,
“Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?”
Jesus then replied with a question,
“What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?”
I am impressed at the fact that “expert” gave a very succinct answer – on occasion experts like to hear themselves talk! But he kept it short and right to the heart of the matter. He answered,
“‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
He summarized the entirety of the Law by quoting two verses, one from Deuteronomy 6:5 and the other from Leviticus 19:18.
“Right!” Jesus told him. “Do this and you will live!”
It was the correct answer to the question, but do we live it out? Other experts may have gone into quite a bit more detail. They may have backed their answer up with all kinds of sustaining passages of Scripture and in the process making something very simple, quite complicated instead.
Today, when we think about living out our lives following Jesus, do we keep it simple, or do we feel that it is necessary to complicate things. Do we have a checklist of dos and don’ts that we attempt to adhere to? Do we attempt to rack up a mountain of “good deeds” in hopes that we can sway our Judge on the day we stand before Him and have to give an account of what we did and why we should be “allowed” in?
Let’s go back to directions and believe it or not…we get pictures!
Jesus lived out the Law (which by the way He authored!) He loved His Father with all His heart, soul, strength, and mind. He held back nothing. As sports enthusiasts like to say, He left it all on the field. And, He loved His neighbor as Himself – so much so that He literally loved us…to death. In doing so, he assured that we could live.
Lord Jesus, first and foremost, we are indebted because of Your sacrifice. We would be lost and condemned without You. May we keep our life of following You simple. Complicating things accomplishes nothing. We miss out. Others miss out. And most importantly You miss out because we don’t allow ourselves to be used to the fullest for You and Your Kingdom. Amen.
May 28th, 2020, Thurs, 9:39 pm
