New "Rules"

Do not be afraid, Abraham.

I am your shild,

your very great reward (Gen. 15:1)

 

So I say to you: Ask and it will be given; seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.  Which of your fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead?  Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him? (Luke 11: 9-13).

 

The poorest of the poor will find pasture,

and the needy will lie down in safety (Is.14:30).

 

You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast,

because he trusts in you (Is. 26:3).

 

Very well, then, with foreign lips and strange tongues

God willl speak to this people,

to whom he said,

"This is the resting place, let the weary rest;" and

"This is the place of repose" --

but they would not listen.

So then, the word of the Lord to them will become:

"Do and do, do and do,

rule on rule, rule on rule;

a little here, a little there--

so that they will go and fall backward,

be injured and snared and captured (Is. 28:11-13).

 

Most of us grew up with "rules" to follow in religion, or we were threatened with consequences, even to the fires of hell.  Fortunately, somehow, I seemed to have escaped the threat of hell, but I know some of my friends did not.  Someone (a Hari Krishna guru) once told me that I was the only person he had ever met who was more afraid of evil than of the devil.  His statement kind of took me back, since I had never considered it that way -- but I think he was absolutely right.  I don't ever recall being afraid of the devil or of hell -- but I was very afraid of evil.  I did not want to be sucked into the grasp of evil, but I didn't worry about it too much, because I always felt safe in the arms of God.

 

Even in the Old Testament, God's promise to Abraham was always safety:  Do not be afraid, Abraham; I am your Shield and your very great Reward!  The "Reward" comes not from following the rules -- God always knew we could not -- but from "seeking, knocking, asking."  If we refuse to do that, well, then, we will have to "do and do, rule on rule..."  

 

As children, the rules keep us safe until we know enough to seek, knock and ask.  Those who do not know the God of Abraham, the "Shield and the Reward" will have to keep on doing and doing what others tell them are the "rules" until they fall to their knees in desperation to seek, knock, and ask:  Show me Your Face!  Even the "poorest of the poor" will find pasture, and the "needy will lie down in safety," because for them, the rules never did work.

 

Here are the "New Rules," those which man's understanding could never devise:

 

Even youths grow tired and weary,

and young men stumble and fall;

but those who hope in the Lord

will renew their strenth.

They will soar on wings like eagles;

they will run and not grow weary,

they will walk and not be faint (Is.40:31).

 

This is the one I esteem:

he who is humble and contrite in spirit,

and trembles at my word.

But whoever sacrifices a bull

is like one who kills a man,

and whoever offers a lamb,

like one who breaks a dog's neck:

whoever makes a grain offering

is like one who who presents pig's blood,

and whoever burns memorial incense

like one who worships an idol (Is. 66:2-3).

 

If we want to know what God demands of us, let us heed the words of Micah the prophet:

 

With what shall I come before the Lord

and bow down before the exalted God?

Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings,

with calves a year old?

Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,

with ten thousand rivers of oil?

Shall I offer my firstborn for the sin of my soul?

He has shown you, O man, what is good.

And what does the Lord require of you?

To act justly and to love mercy

and to walk humbly with your God (6:6-8).



 

No one could ever say it better!