Day 31

“And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,  may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ  and to know this love that surpasses knowledge— that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” — Ephesians 3:17-19

The Ten Commandments reveal not only the character of God, but the heart of God. There are immeasurable things about Him to be grateful for, and one of them certainly is that He does not change. His character is always above reproach, His wisdom flawless, His compassion unending, His love perfect. And He showed the world.

In the person of Jesus Christ, God came to earth, completely holy, unmarred by the slightest sin, and turned millenniums of established Jewish faith on its ear with radical teachings, which He knew would lead Him to the cross. This was God, confronted by staunch legalism from the hierarchy of His chosen people who piously upheld His laws but failed to know Him. So Jesus reintroduced the laws, and to the chagrin and dismay of both commoners and those in authority, did not obliterate them, change them or reduce them in any way. He expanded on them.

Jesus said anyone who is angry with his brother has already committed murder in his heart. Anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If someone strikes you on the cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, give to him your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile with him, go with him two. Give to the needy. Do not judge. Love your enemies. Pray for those who persecute you. Forgive as your Heavenly Father forgives you. “Be perfect, therefore, as your Heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). This is the heart of God expressed through His Son.

Unlike the Pharisees, Jesus did not base His teachings on outward activity, but He went right to our hearts from where all sin derives. As hard as we try, we are incapable of keeping the commandments as God has given them, so how then shall we now live? In Matthew 22:37, Jesus tells us. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and the greatest commandment. And the second is like it; Love your neighbour as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Everything hinges on loving Christ, and by the gift of His indwelling Spirit, we are supremely blessed in being given the only means possible to live according to the heart of God.

Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, I sometimes wonder where I would be without Jesus. How do I thank you for Him? He gave me everything, even His life, and He keeps on giving. With all my heart, thank you for His indwelling Spirit that is my life.

To reflect upon: In what area of my life has the empowering of Jesus helped me the most? How much time do I spend alone with God, and in those times, am I experiencing His Spirit renewed and deepened within me?