An Unopened Gift?
A reading for Friday, May 16, 2014: Matthew 5:27-37.
If God's law is a gift, then it is meant to be opened. It's meant to be enjoyed. Right?
How many of us get a gift, and never open it? Or take the wrapped box around with us, telling others and showing others that we have this wonderful gift without seeing what the gift really is beyond the pretty paper and the ribbons? We don't do that...
However, in the strict sense of the word even if we don't open it we still have a gift. We are following the letter of law as it relates to getting a gift. Enjoy the box with the pretty paper and ribbon...
Jesus says that laws against adultery and divorce are a gift. "You have heard it said," says Jesus.
But you carry the gift around with you without opening it. You follow the strict letter of the law when it comes to adultery and divorce, but fail to realize that by fully embracing the gift in the spirit it was intended, you fail to understand what such a gift offers. You are not opening the gift...
The gift of the law when it comes to adultery and divorce is the covenant between two people that love one another fully and completely and do not betray that love in any way. It is the gift of committed, human relationship in it's fullest form. It is meant to be enjoyed as a gift that continues to offer more and more with each moment of each day of each life. This law about faithfulness in relationship is a gift...
That's why pornography, and uncommitted sex, and cheating in marriage, and even objectifying people in selling sex are a problem. These are like an unopened gift? Pretty paper and ribbons with nothing inside. We rationalize that it doesn't hurt anyone, or it's not against the law? "You have heard it said..."
Trust in the real gift, the spirit of God's intentions. Open it. Enjoy it. God loves you and wants you to have the gift of his love in all things...
If God's law is a gift, then it is meant to be opened. It's meant to be enjoyed. Right?
How many of us get a gift, and never open it? Or take the wrapped box around with us, telling others and showing others that we have this wonderful gift without seeing what the gift really is beyond the pretty paper and the ribbons? We don't do that...
However, in the strict sense of the word even if we don't open it we still have a gift. We are following the letter of law as it relates to getting a gift. Enjoy the box with the pretty paper and ribbon...
Jesus says that laws against adultery and divorce are a gift. "You have heard it said," says Jesus.
But you carry the gift around with you without opening it. You follow the strict letter of the law when it comes to adultery and divorce, but fail to realize that by fully embracing the gift in the spirit it was intended, you fail to understand what such a gift offers. You are not opening the gift...
The gift of the law when it comes to adultery and divorce is the covenant between two people that love one another fully and completely and do not betray that love in any way. It is the gift of committed, human relationship in it's fullest form. It is meant to be enjoyed as a gift that continues to offer more and more with each moment of each day of each life. This law about faithfulness in relationship is a gift...
That's why pornography, and uncommitted sex, and cheating in marriage, and even objectifying people in selling sex are a problem. These are like an unopened gift? Pretty paper and ribbons with nothing inside. We rationalize that it doesn't hurt anyone, or it's not against the law? "You have heard it said..."
Trust in the real gift, the spirit of God's intentions. Open it. Enjoy it. God loves you and wants you to have the gift of his love in all things...
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