Scrawling a Whim

Mark 7:9-13 He went on, “Well, good for you. You get rid of God’s command, so you won’t be inconvenienced in following the religious fashions! 10 Moses said, ‘Respect your father and mother,’ and, ‘Anyone denouncing father or mother should be killed.’ 11 But you weasel out of that by saying that it’s perfectly acceptable to say to father or mother, ‘Gift?! What I owed you I’ve given as a gift to God,’ 12 thus relieving yourselves of obligation to father or mother. 13 You scratch out God’s Word and scrawl a whim in its place. You do a lot of things like this.” (from THE MESSAGE)
 
IF you have thought, “Jesus loves everyone. He is always patient and kind with us.” then it’s good to pay close attention to his sharp rebuke of the Pharisees.
   Our Lord condemned the way they got rid of God’s command, so they wouldn’t be inconvenienced in following the religious fashions. In other words, they did what they wanted for their own convenience.
   Jesus was angry in the way they weaseled out of the fifth commandment: Exodus 20:11
“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.”  And there were other laws of Moses regarding care for one’s parents. Jesus completely denounced their habit of the “gifts” also called Corben. Corben was to dedicate money to God for a sacred purpose. A man could tell his parents, “The money I have to support you is dedicated to God.” That may seem a good thing until we understand the man could use the money for his own purpose. In effect, the Pharisees dedicated money to themselves and dishonored their parents!
   How dare we form our own understanding of God apart from his Word! When it seems the Bible limits us, we must remember God’s Word is written to expand our lives into the fullness of his blessing. God loves you. He has written a love letter to  you. The Spirit has inspired men to write his Word over centuries to help mankind understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. (Ephesians 3:19)
   Yet, you and I too often live with ambivalence and doubt in God’s great love. With a mere whim of our own desires, we want to believe that our words are better than God’s Word. Each time we read of the Pharisees’ self-righteous sin, it is appropriate to consider our own lives. Jesus’ scolding words. “You do a lot of things like this.” easily apply to each one of us.
   How patient is our Lord to held back his final judgment! He demonstrated his righteous anger due the men who conspired to replace God as Israel’s highest authority. He had suffered mankind’s prideful abuse since the Garden. The sinful mind scrawls its own whims, serving our own desires. For the corrupt mind, everything has pointed to the self.
   Yet, the God who is love has come to redeem this sin, so our minds point to him. This is a sign of his great love for all of us.
   Know, love and honor God’s Word. Write his true Word on your heart. He has written it for you. 2 Timothy 3:14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15 and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.