"What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and
you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income
from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the
law-justice, mercy, and faith." Matthew 23:23 NLT I thought I had gone the
distance . . . But I was nowhere close.
For the past five years, I have been walking a route
around our subdivision that I assumed was two miles. Since I could once walk two
miles in thirty minutes, I gauged my distance by time.
In the old days, I used the odometer on my car to
measure distance. But I couldn't drive this walking route. Then I remembered my
Fitbit had a distance measurement function. All I had to do was walk until it
showed I had walked two miles.
After looking at my Fitbit, I walked my normal route.
Although I assumed I had been walking two miles, I discovered I had only walked
one and a half. Disappointment. So I added what laps I needed to get the two
miles. And I was amazed at how tired I was. Going the distance was more tiring
than I had remembered. Of course, I'm almost twenty years older than when I
walked two miles in thirty minutes.
The religious leaders of Jesus' day thought they were
going the distance too, but Jesus burst their bubble. They knew the laws
backwards and forwards. They even added hundreds just to make sure they were
going the distance. A distance that allowed them to judge others unjustly, that
made them appear holy. But a distance that incurred Jesus' rebuke. They were
good at obeying the laws but terrible at experiencing the distance of grace.
Legalists is what we'd call the religious leaders.
Obeying the law of resting on the Sabbath wasn't good enough for them. They had
to establish how far one could or could not walk-as well as other meticulous
things a person could or couldn't do.
But going the distance isn't about reaching some
legalistic plateau. It's about grace. Jesus fulfilled the law, and when I accept
what He has done on my behalf I fulfill the law as well. Legalism leads to
pride, manipulation, and a sense of false identity. Grace results in love,
kindness, and humility.
While Jesus expects us to obey His commands, He wants
us to go the distance because we love Him and appreciate what He's done on our
behalf. And not just so we can say we've reached the two mile mark.
Obey God out of love and appreciation-not a sense of
duty.
Martin Wiles
Hodges,
South Carolina, USA
The Illustrator: This daily newsletter is dedicated to encouraging
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