Seventh Day of Lent - The Law

Moses and the Tablets- Marc Chagall
Erica Meyerovich Gallery, San Francisco

The word 'Law' does not excite.  It feels cold and controlling.   But the Psalmist (119) says, "I delight in your laws, I write them on my heart."

Clarity and boundaries in relationships are also both healthy and liberating.  Young children, where the boundaries are unclear, appearing and disappearing, become insecure.  They carry 'floating anxiety', and this affects their behaviour and mood.  Relationships where there is jealousy and suspicion absorb negative energy and stress, leading to great unhappiness.   

Our Creator has given us clear boundaries.  The do's and don'ts. 

These were famously summarised (attributed to St Augustine) as "Love God and do as you please."

This is the beautiful law that sets us free, rather than constrains us.

20 And God spoke all these words: 2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.  3 “You shall have no other gods before[a] me.  4 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments. 7 “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.  8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labour and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. 12 “Honour your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you. 13 “You shall not murder. 14 “You shall not commit adultery. 15 “You shall not steal. 16 “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbour. 17 “You shall not covet your neighbour’s house. You shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour.” 18 When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance 19 and said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.”

PRAYER:  I love your laws and have written then in my heart.