Lost on the Rule

“It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law,” Jesus replied.   Mark 10:5 (NIV)

Do we find it a little funny that we constantly try to break down the Bible and the teachings of Jesus?  Doesn´t it seem that we try to turn everything into a black and white rule? Jesus was being put to the test over the doctrines and rules held by the church.  He patiently guides us back on track.  He points out our tendency to disassociate the rule from the Giver of that rule.  He responds to the Pharisees questioning by leading them back to where they got their laws.

Is it lovely to watch Jesus gently guide us past the superficial?  Can we gaze in awe as He brings the theme back to His Father?  Jesus points out the fact that we always stubbornly try to take our instruction and remove ourselves from the presence of God.  We accept the words the Lord gives us then walk right out the door.  We go out of His Company to set ourselves to applying the words we received.  Should the very thing that was given to us to unite us to Him, take our attention from Him?  Should we take this rule as our prize?  When He gives us something to do to honor Him, should it draw us closer into our relationship with Him?  Could we just be happy to have something which is intended to bring us closer to Him?  If we focus on the rule, could we lose the bond, the communication, the closeness we should have with the One who gave it to us?

God has given us many direct instructions.  But are those instructions intended to bring us closer together?  A rule in black and white may be carried out easily without standing in the presence of the One who gave that rule.  But is that where our Lord wanted us to go?  Do we think that God made us so that we can ever leave His Company to occupy ourselves with the complying of cold demands?  Is it right that we take what should be done with and within the council of our Lord, and make it into a simple ritual or a routine?  Can we see that when God makes us and gives us His instructions, it is to draw us closer together?  Do we not realize that the focus is not the rule; it is the Giver of that rule?

Let us pray today that Jesus may once again gently guide us past the external workings and the fancy little rituals we love to follow.  Let us hear His words.  Let us listen as He brings us back to the Father.  God´s intentions are always in uniting us in a relationship with Him.  Every instruction would bring us into direct contact with Him.  Jesus was the perfect example.  Jesus is our Teacher.  He points out that God is at work.  God is present in His creation.  Could we draw near to Him as He intended?  Could we honor and please Him by placing the focus where He wants it to be?  Could we realize that to hear His words we must remain there with Him?  Can we see that to fulfil His words we will need to stay within His wonderful Presence?

Dear Jesus, thank You for bringing our attention back to the Divine.  We tend to stray.  We constantly replace our time with the Father with scurrying and bustle.  We pride ourselves in having our doctrines lined out.  But please continue to guide us gently past those limitations.  Lead us again into that wonderful land of the Presence of our God.  Bowed before our Maker we find all as it should be.  Removing our eyes from Him we stumble. In Him, in You, we find our rightful position and the direction of our souls.  Restore us again to the Presence of the Father we pray.

Amen