DAILY READING
REFLECTION
A Black and White World
by Kathleen Serio
There have been times in life when I wished the world was black and white with a clear yes or no; right or wrong. I longed for no middle ground where I had to wrestle with which side to take. But that isn’t the world we live in. We have rules that God gave us to follow, but because of sin, we will never be able to live up to those rules.
Thankfully, we live in a world where Jesus died on the cross to forgive us our sins, sins that would place us in a box marked “bad” if life was kept to good versus bad or black and white. But through Grace we are saved and forgiven of those sins. That forgiveness shatters any ability to easily sort life into good and bad. It takes life from a black and white world to a world full of gray, a world where clarity isn’t always that clear.
In this passage, the Pharisees question Jesus because he seems to break one of the rules God gave his people: keep the Sabbath and rest. (Exodus 20:8-11) The Pharisees question how a man can perform a miracle on God’s behalf while disobeying what God has commanded. They are looking at everything in black and white, rule following and rule breaking, and they struggle with Jesus not doing the same. By defying their rigid perceptions of God's law, Jesus demonstrates how he wants the Israelites to live and act. It is not their works and doing everything exactly right (that is, lawful, as they perceive it) that pleases the Lord; rather, it is through faith in Jesus.
At the end of the day, God is love. His love is in us, and to be God’s hands and feet on Earth, we must love. Love is how others see God in our hearts. So instead of "resting" on the Sabbath (which wasn't so much resting as doing nothing) Jesus showed love to a man who needed his help.
PRAYER
Dear God, I pray for help us as we navigate this world. Give us your eyes to see beyond the rules for how we should truly be living. Help us learn the lessons you have given, enable us to recall them when they needed. God, you know each of our minds and hearts; you know where we struggle to understand what you want us to do. I pray we hear you as you guide us on the path you want us to take.
