Today’s devotion is based off of week 2 of Unlikely Heroes: A Teacher (WATCH HERE)
Well said.
The teacher responds to the greatest Teacher:
Mark 12:32 “Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. 33 To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
34 When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”
It is easy to miss the point among the details.
In the plethora of laws which God had given to Israel, one may try to prioritize which of the laws is the most important. It seems by the teacher of the law’s response that many had prioritized as important the bringing of offerings and sacrifices to the temple. Perhaps this might be like “C&E Christians” (Christians who attend church on just Christmas and Easter). It is maybe perceived as the “bare minimum” activity to still claim to be a Christian. Perhaps the bringing of offerings and sacrifices on occasion was deemed to be the bare minimum to be considered a practicing Jew.
However, the teacher of the law was understanding from Jesus’ answer that what the Lord was looking for wasn’t a few “bare minimum” activities that honored a couple of the laws he had given, rather what Jesus’ answer indicated is that the Lord was interested in the full devotion of the individual’s heart. Only when the heart had been touched by the love of Christ would the actions follow in a way that honored the Lord.
The prophet Hosea put it this way as he confronted a straying Israel. The way back to the Lord wasn’t simply by going through the motions of the law, but rather a heart that was fully focused on the Lord. Hosea, speaking for the Lord said, “For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings (Hosea 6:6).
Empty actions are only indicative of an empty heart.
A heart touched by the love of God is motivated to follow the law of God.
And that’s where grace comes into play.
The grace of God reflects the love of God that was willing to send the Son of God to fulfill the law of God on behalf of each one of us. The fact that, as the Apostle Paul says, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
The amazing thing about this great exchange is that we are GIVEN the status as righteous (perfect) as a gift of God. Because we wear the righteousness of Christ, we are not following God’s law to appease the justice of God (i.e. to become righteous), but rather to reflect our gratitude for the grace of God.
And when we live in and are motivated by the grace of God, we are not far from the kingdom of God, because it is what people do whom God has brought into his kingdom.
Apply: How does your perspective change on the law of God as you realize it is there not to earn the righteousness of God, but rather to guide your life of living for God?
Prayer: Lord, thank you for your grace. Let it motivate me to live every aspect of my life as a true expression of gratitude for your grace. AMEN.