Friday, March 6

You have heard that it was said to the men of old “you shall not kill; and whoever kills shall be liable to judgment.” But I say to you that everyone that is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment.
—Matthew 5: 21-22

Jesus always goes directly to what really matters. In this account, he explains the true understanding of Torah by making it clear that the habits of the heart eclipse the commandments. Jesus wants each person to know, feel, understand, and embody the intent of the scriptures.

He’s not looking for the disciple who merely remembers rules and regulations. Instead, Jesus wants people who understand the true meaning of kingdom living, the kind of kingdom possible when the habits of the heart and the habits of God’s law come into the fullness of life.

What in your life needs to be recaptured as an understanding of scripture? How could God’s law—the Torah—the prophets, and the Good News of Christ be present in your life as you live each day? 

Focusing your life upon the intent of what God has asked of you is a pathway away from a legalistic understanding and toward an embodied understanding of God’s good news. Incorporating the word into your life daily means reflecting upon God’s word, letting it live within you, and having it shape and form your very being in the world.

It’s not a matter of deciding which verse or which chapter applies to you each day. Instead, it’s about letting the whole of scripture shape and form your life. It’s not about the commandment, but about the narrative of God’s redemption within you and all around you.

Let this Lent, these 40 days, be the days you discover that life is more than a playbook and that scripture is more than a blueprint.

O God, lead the way toward understanding the true meaning of your love in Christ, and allow what I believed to be rules to become ways and roads to wholeness.