Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me.”
NL Daily Devotion for Wednesday, February 21, 2024
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
The Ten Commandments are so important that they’re in the Bible twice! (And slightly different each time). The readings this week focus on God’s laws, decrees, precepts, etc. because they come after the Sunday reading on Jesus’ encounter with the rich young man who has faithfully followed all of these his whole life. And Jesus, hearing this, looks at the man and “loves him.” But following the Ten Commandments, and all the laws of Moses and all God’s precepts and decrees and so forth, isn’t enough in and of itself. What matters is what follows on after this faithful adherence to law—action out of gratitude. We are to receive God’s law as a gift which, if we observe it to the best of our ability, naturally results in our desire to be of love and service to our neighbors, and to follow in the way of Jesus. For the rich young man, this would have meant giving up all his possessions and following Jesus, which he was unwilling to do, and so God’s laws remained an end unto themselves, rather than the means to a life of happy engagement with community. Of course it’s not completely that black and white. But as you think about the Ten Commandments, perhaps you might wonder about how they are an invitation to a closer walk with Jesus, rather than a lists of “Thou Shalt Nots”.
Which of God’s commandments most engenders gratitude in me? How do I act on that gratitude?
