28 If an ox gores
a man or woman to death,
the ox is to be stoned to death,
and its meat must not be eaten.
But the owner of the bull
will not be held responsible.
Exodus 20
How many commandments are there? 10?
No. 613! (Some as big and small as the one that is our verse for today.)
613! That’s a lot. Why so many? It’s because we keep looking for clarification … and loopholes. For example, it’s apparently not enough for God to say, “Thou shalt not kill.” Rather, he has to further define it. So just a few verses before today’s verse, God commands:
“23 But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.”
Now, some people look at “an eye for an eye” as barbaric, harsh, and utterly antiquated. (It is. After all, Jesus said, Matthew 5:38 You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’[h]39 But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. 40 And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well.) Nevertheless, at the time, this was a wise, compassionate, and limiting law. Limiting is the key word. Why? Because sinful people escalate things. For example, if you killed my ox, might I get so angry that I’d fight and kill you? (Read the headlines over the weekend. How many fights escalated to: “A man was killed in North Charlotte after a fight at the So-and-so Apartment Complex.”) Sinful people need limits. If a person kills your ox, they should pay you back, and let’s have it stop there, alright?!
Now, if our theme is freedom, here’s the point: We are slaves to sin. We sin all the time. We hurt others … and they hurt us. Life is messy. Like two year olds, we push at boundaries, we look for loopholes, we excuse questionable behavior. Other people’s sin harms us. And our own sin, if it doesn’t outright harm us, continually cheapens us.
We are slaves to sin … and we are its victims. Freedom comes when we quit doing things our way, and trust God enough to do things his way. Breaking a bad habit or addiction is freeing. Forgiving a trespasser is healing – usually to us even more than them. God gave us laws so we could be free – free from the harm others do to us, and free from the cheapening and the harm that we do to others.
Are you free enough to obey?
Indeed, what do you need to stop … in order to discover more freedom?
In Christ’s Name,
a guy who used to play
a chocolate chip cookie
for a chocolate chip cookie
whenever his little brothers
nabbed what I decided was mine!
(And do you think I ever
escalated it from there?)
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