“Rules without love become cruel masters.”
Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today – August 3, 2024
If you had known what this means, I desire mercy and not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath. Matthew 12:7-8, CSB
I think I would have made a good Israelite. As I often tell my children, “Rules are for your good.” I find rules bring order and structure to an otherwise chaotic world. Maybe it’s just my temperament, I’m not sure. But I do know that passages like Matthew 12 stretch me in ways that are not always comfortable because here, our Lord Jesus is reminding us of a central truth of the Christian life: you can follow all the rules and still miss the point!
Israel had been given, by God, a detailed and elaborate sacrificial system by which they were able to stay in right relationship with him as his chosen people. However, the rules themselves were never the point! The rules pointed beyond themselves into a way of living, a way of being that was conformed to the rhythms of eternity.
If one is to err on one side or the other, Jesus is reminding us today that we should err on the side of mercy, compassion, and love! Yes, rules and standards of living matter, helping to keep us oriented to the life of the kingdom, but rules without love become cruel masters. As we’re reminded in James 2:13, “Mercy triumphs over judgment.”
Are there ways in your own life that you’ve kept the rules or lived “by the book” yet failed to do so from a heart of compassionate love for others? Are you willing to lead with mercy and trust that the Lord can sort out the details? I know my own law-abiding nature has, at times, kept me from the merciful heart that I know our Lord longs for his children to have. I am learning, slowly but surely, that nowhere in Scripture has God appointed me a judge or asked me to enforce his rules. He is more than capable of doing that himself! Yet what are we told time and time again? “To do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8, NKJV).
Prayer
Father, may we today lead with mercy in all of our interactions and decisions, trusting that this is the heart of compassion that you long for each of us to have, through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Application
How have you led with judgment when the Lord instead longs for you to lead with mercy?
Related Reading
Psalm 86:5; Micah 6:8; Matthew 5:7
Worship Resource
Keith & Kristyn Getty, Matt Boswell, Matt Papa, ft. Shane & Shane: His Mercy is More
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