Law and love and wonder

In the Old Testament, the word “law” is the Hebrew word “torah.” It primarily means “direction, teaching, instruction.” This is not what we normally think when we use this word. For us, it is the regulations whereby a culture or government rules itself. When the law says I cannot drive faster than the posted speed limit, there is some instruction involved, but is mostly laying down a rule that if violated, I will have to pay a fine. The emphasis is “do this or else.”

While many people think that religion is the same, that is a whole bunch of “do this or else” laws, the law of God puts more emphasis on the spiritual principles for life that make life better, richer, more in line with what God had in mind when He created us. That means when God says, “Love your neighbor as yourself” He is not yelling, “If you don’t, you will pay” but implying (among other things) that “This is my ideal for your life.”

This is why the psalmist was excited about the Word of God and the laws of God. In them, he learned a higher kind of life, a greater way to be a human being. He knew that this body of learning was beyond his comprehension though. This is because sin blinds our understanding. For that reason, he prayed this…

Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law. (Psalm 119:18)

Today’s devotional reading says that conversion to Christianity is a great experience because when God opens our eyes to His law, this recreates the faculty of wonder. Even when His instruction comes with strong rebuke, it can be sweet, beautiful and fresh. Seeing life through the eyes of God opens to us a great wonder. Some say the sky is deeper blue, loved ones more precious. For me, the gospel steadily deepens my sense of wonder at all things around me and deepens my love for life itself.

I once thought life was a journey to enjoy and I dreaded death, but now life is the prelude to eternity and death is its doorstep. I once thought of sin as the big bad things done by other people, but the wondrous law of God showed me sin is a violation of all that God intended for me and makes me unclean in His eyes. Once sin was not vital or even noticed, but now I fight it with all my heart for I want to please the One who died so I could be set free from its grip.

God’s instruction is not a list of rules. It is guidance and direction for life, and shows me how to have joy and peace, a peace too deep for words that is a mystery that humanity can never fathom. In it, even as a Christian with eyes wide open, I can only wonder and be amazed.

My Christian faith and the law of God shows me how His love is at the heart of everything, and with it, wonder is never far away. Most wonderful is that God loves me and His love is permanent, mine forever. The author of today’s reading expresses it this way:

Once we have learned to love Jesus and to experience His love to us, there falls a newness of wonder on everything. I know that God is power—but he may be power and still leave me cold. I know that God is justice—and yet infinite justice can never win my heart. God is love. The world is made in love. Every touch of his hand on me is love—and immediately I cry in adoration, “He will be called Wonderful!”

Astonished Gratitude

My sister uses a particular devotion guide. One day last week she was struggling with a sense of neglect and loneliness. She opened her devotional booklet and that was the topic for today. She was blessed as she read the Bible verses that answered her need. Then, on a whim, she opened a classic devotional book to the same date and was astonished that it also addressed the same topic.

God is good at doing things like that. Many Christians tell of how their devotional material hits whatever issue or questions that they are experiencing on that day. I suspect that it is not the devotional material that He lines up to fit our situation, but the situations that He lines up to make us ready to hear what He is going to say to us. We hear better when need makes the words relative to our experience.

The psalmist may have been thinking this, but in any case, he wrote lavishly about the decrees and laws of God. He also knew that without God’s help, he would not “get it” when he read the Bible. He says…

Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law. (Psalm 119:18)

The Word of God is a wonder, but I am also amazed that I finally “get it” and wonder at it and that my wonder stays and deepens. Each day, I am astonished by something new from God, and if not astonished, certainly blessed by a deeper and more perfect knowledge of God and eternal matters. This is of God, not about me.

As today’s devotional says wonder is a valuable commodity. Think how easily the facility of wonder vanishes. I remember our short year in Alaska and the amazing scenery. One day we came out of the grocery store in Soldatna and the sky was overcast in “buttermilk” clouds, not particular in themselves, but the low sun made them blood red. It was spectacular, but we were the only people in that parking lot looking up. For the locals, this had become commonplace, not quite familiarity that breeds contempt, but along that line.

Perhaps this capacity to take things for granted is the reason Jesus tells us to pray for our daily bread. We spiritualize that and make it mean daily spiritual nourishment through a quiet time with God and in Bible study, but He probably meant daily bread on the table, food for our bodies. In North America, many people think nothing of that. Eating is commonplace, but if I pray for it and am thankful for God’s provision, I’m not only more appreciative for the food, but for other things, even the small thing.

This attitude of thankfulness is important. One of my course professors says that grumbling was the worst sin in the Old Testament. If I am not thankful, I am grumbling. Gratitude is vital to spiritual health and losing my sense of wonder messes with my gratitude.

For those reasons, I want to appreciate even the least of things, like the brilliant red on the sunlit building across the street from my hotel (we are on a business trip) and the incredible blue sky, and a good sleep last night, and my husband leaving me with a platter of breakfast before he went to his meetings. I’ve the privilege today of helping my sister sort the remains of her flooded home. I am thankful that I am able to walk and move and communicate, that I can drive a car and hear and see, that I can wonder at the world around me.

I’m also thankful that the Holy Spirit still speaks to me, shows me what God wants for me each day, even each moment. The wonder of God’s care is never earned or deserved, only to be received with astonished and humble gratitude.