17 Deal bountifully with your servant, * that I may live and keep your word.
18 Open my eyes, that I may see *
the wonders of your law.
I read that and I really wish that it said, "that I may see the wonders of your creation" rather than "of your law." Creation I can deal with much more favorably - laws are a little harder. I don't necessarily want to think about laws that have to be obeyed. I'd much rather think about the delights of creation rather than obedience, because I can do guilt trips really well. I can easily obsess over things that I have not handled well, or sometimes not at all.
And I can sometimes beat myself up over not helping someone in a particular situation. But the truth is I do help in some situations and not in others. Sometimes I feel called to reach out and sometimes I don't. In those times, when I don't reach out, I have to remind myself that I can't do everything - and I'm not even called to do everything. In some situations, someone else is called and I have to honor that person's service.
I also have to remember that from a human perspective, God's laws make sense. At the time they were written, there were real health concerns that were addressed as law. They included listing some foods as "unclean" that we now know in some circumstances can cause illnesses. They included washing hands and washing eating and cooking utensils. Many of them were very practical laws meant to keep people healthy.
But God's laws also address human relationship. They say something important about how we deal with each other. The vast majority of God's laws are intended for the benefit of human kind - emotionally, spiritually and physically. It is a wonder to see and understand that God's law indeed makes sense in the world even today.
No comments:
Post a Comment