Scripture Reading: Matthew 22:34-39
Key Verse: “. . .love the Lord.. .love your neighbor...” (Matthew 22:37, 38).
Meditation: In spite of the fact that God wrote the Ten Commandments with His own hand, fewer and fewer people view them as absolute truth today. Many think them excessively legalistic, if not obsolete. Others rationalize, thinking they have been displaced with Christ’s emphasis on love and forgiveness.
Christ’s answer to the lawyer who asked, “Which is the greatest commandment?” confirms Jesus’ teaching that keeping the law is continually important. Christ synthesized the Ten Commandments into two summary statements: Love God supremely and love your neighbor as you love yourself.
While each of the Ten Commandments does begin with “You shall not there are no undue repressive constraints in what is being forbidden. Negative commands help to define clearly the borders of behavior that are acceptable to God. These clear prohibitions show us what is acceptable to God. We need not live with anxiety about pleasing God. Many parents are reluctant to say a clear “no” to their children with the result that their children continue to push beyond the limits that are best for their protection. Like children, we need to know the acceptable boundaries between God and us and between our neighbors and ourselves.
Thought for the Day: God allows us the freedom of choice, but we must bear the consequences of our bad choices.
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