Hosea 6:6 (NRSVue) - For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
The prophet Hosea called upon the people to repent.
But repentance was not in their hearts.
They continued to offer their sacrifices, but their hearts were not in them.
God made it clear that sacrifices and offerings were not what he wanted.
What God wanted was their love and for them to come to know Him.
Paul, in his letter to the Romans, reminded them that they were to love their neighbor.
Moreover, it was love, not sacrifice, that fulfilled the law.
Romans 13:10 (NRSVue) - Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.
On the surface, this seems simple enough.
But history has shown us repeatedly that humans find this difficult.
Today’s headlines reveal just how difficult we still find it.
In Matthew 22, an expert in the law tried to trick Jesus.
He asked Jesus which commandment was the most important.
Christ gave him a two-fold answer.
This response must have taken the expert by complete surprise.
Matthew 22:37-40 (NRSVue) - He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
Christ understood that the commandments were about relationships.
Some are about our relationship with God.
Others are about our relationship with each other.
By keeping both these commandments, we would in effect be keeping all others.
God still wants us to love and get to know Him.
He still prefers this to any other offerings we make.
Christ came into this world to teach us.
He did so by both word and example.
He reminded us to love both God and our neighbor.
That means all people.
As we embark on a new year, let us learn once more what it means to genuinely love God and people.
Blessings,
Jim Pokorny
The Other Brother Jim
Look for me at otherbrotherjim.blogspot.com on Friday, January 12, 2023.
I will be back here on Friday, January 19, 2024
0 comments :
Post a Comment