October 19: The Plague of Fine Print and The Spiritual Gym

Jeremiah 33:1-34:22
1 Timothy 4:1-16
Psalm 89:1-13

Proverbs 25:23-24

God's commands through Moses were pretty straightforward - certainly about the jubilee year, when slaves were supposed to be set free (unless they didn't want to be, in which case there were clear instructions for that situation as well, involving an awl and what sounded like a painful piercing).  And the people under Zedekiah seemed to agree - he made a covenant with "all the people in Jerusalem to proclaim freedom for the slaves".  But when the time came, they set them free - and then took the slaves back and enslaved them again.  

I wonder what was going on in the minds of the people who reimposed slavery on those they had freed. While it is entirely possible they told themselves "this is what God wants, what I agreed to do, but I'm not going to do it anymore", it is more likely they talked themselves into thinking there was nothing wrong with what they were doing; they searched through fine print and found what they thought was a good enough loophole.  But God wasn't about fine print and loopholes, and He declared His intention to deliver the people into the hands of their enemies.  

The NT reading alludes to as much - it talks about how "some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons, [that came] through critical liars..." Do you find yourself guilty of that much?  I do.  I rarely ever commit the sin where I say "Ok, God, I know this goes against the seventh commandment, but I'm going to do it anyway".  Instead, I find an excuse - some reason to to justify breaking the commandment - "he doesn't need it anyway"; "it's just a pen - there are lots more in the supply cabinet"; "I'll pay for it later, but I need it now".  Sometimes it isn't even something quite as explicit - "I know I need to talk to God to start my day, but I'll have to do it later -  after all, He wouldn't want me to be late for work, would He?  I mean, He gave me this work,,,"  Yeah, I do that a lot.  And it is frustrating - but how do I overcome it?

Thankfully, the NT reading gives us the prescription - we have to be "nourished on the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed...[having[ nothing to do with godless myths...rather, train yourself to be godly/".  Since my knee's been hurt, I've been looking for other ways to stay physically fit.  In fact, I just tried hot yoga the other day.  It was great - 75 minutes in a hot room sweating, trying to find the strength to maintain my balance through various poses.  I am going back this Sunday, and intend to make it part of my schedule.  If I can do that for my physical body, doomed to decay, why wouldn't I do that for my eternal soul?   After all, today's reading make sit pretty clear -  if I am to overcome the plague of the fine print, I have to be even more diligent working out at the spiritual gym.