Rule Follower...

I was one of those kids who was not prone to rebellious urges. I know, you're thinking, "Oh she was one of those teacher's pet types" and you would be right, much to the annoyance of my peers. I am not sure why I lacked the urge to rebel like so many of my friends. Could be a fear of authority I never grew out of, a hesitancy to create ripples or conflict, a really boring personality : ), or perhaps just the way God has wired me. Whatever the reason, the only time I felt a need to buck the system was when I felt injustice needed to be addressed, even then I really disliked the confrontation part.

Positively, I was saved many scars and painful repercussions, and my parents do not blame their grey hair on me. I am thankful for that and many other traces of God's grace I can see in hindsight. Negatively, however, I think I have been ingrained to be a "rule follower". Is that really a bad thing? When I resemble those Jesus spoke to in Matthew 23, I cringe at the likeness and I can see where abiding the law goes extreme. He's speaking to the Pharisees and Jewish rulers and every few verses he says "Woe to you". Seven times to be exact, along with a reference to serpents and brood of vipers, leading me to believe they missed the boat in His eyes and that means so do I.

To give some history to these current ponderings, since mid-January Shane and I have been on the journey of reading through the Bible. I have never successfully done so in a year and I am praying this year will be different. The reading plan we are using (The Discipleship Journal Bible Reading Plan) take passages from four different areas of Scripture to read for the day; 2 from the OT and 2 from the NT. I find that I really like this pattern because God is using it to give me a broader picture, a "step back and see the overview" picture, of Himself and His story. Which brings me to todays revelations of the incredibly defined details of the law in Numbers coupled with Jesus, in Matthew, addressing those who have followed that same law all their lives and reprimanding them for missing the point. In Matthew 23:19 Jesus says, "You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred?" Indeed, which do I "say" is greater with my choices, the things I prioritize, the issues I get stuck on, my preoccupation with my gifts and talents. Is it the Giver or the gift? In all my "Christianese" and keeping my surface self in check, do I miss the heartbeat of Jesus and what really matters to Him? These are the questions that have been floating around in my head lately.

In the beautiful design of God's Word to us I am already hearing an answer to the questions I mentioned above. With my little ESV Bible opened in front of me I glance at the column just to the left of Matthew 23 and I find these words in answer to a Pharisee's (remember, those who I have found myself to resemble) question, "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" There it is again, focusing on those rules. And Jesus' answer, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets". Now I don't pretend to be a theologian; Shane wears that title much better than I. What I do see clearly though is that the law is incomplete and ineffective in and of itself. It requires something or Someone to lean on. The Pharisees beheld the writer and fulfiller of the law, THE standard we could never meet on our own, the One who came to become for them the righteousness they sought after and they MISSED it. Tragic for them that they missed it! And then I have to ask myself, "Have you missed Him today, Heather?" Have you been so preoccupied with a clean-looking life that you have missed the One who makes you clean, really clean? Are you missing the Holy One in your efforts to be holy? When I put it in writing it makes me wonder how in the world it happens but history shows us it has always been a tragic flaw of humanity. I am praying for a new trend in my heart today and I know there is only One who makes it possible. Turn my eyes on YOU, Jesus!

Traveling the journey of faith with you,
Heather