Devotions Archive Archive: 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 Search Archive Print This Article Being here now Wednesday, March 6, 2002 Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 5-9 Hear now, O Israel, the decrees and laws I am about to teach you. Follow them so that you may live ... Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations. ... What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to him? And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today? Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them. And thereafter the nation of Israel gathered together once each year for a big party. The highlight came when the priests stood up and re-read the laws God gave them through Moses before they entered their Promised Land. When have I ever rejoiced at the reading of rules? I usually experience law as an imposition on my freedom rather than something that frees me. Even as a parent, I resist setting rules for my children. I know how important rules are. Just driving to work would be impossible if there were more than two cars on the street. How could we eat a meal together if we had no rules about sharing? Communication would be impossible without some accepted standards of grammar and syntax. Anarchy so complete that we cannot even speak to each other hasn't happened since the chaos of Babel. Perhaps in that disaster the people longed for law. Law did indeed again bring freedom. As I write, though, I realize the most important thing God gives to his people on this Law Holiday is his presence. "The Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to him." This precious presence exists only because there is an interface, a common ground for me to enter. When I follow God, listen and obey him, I enter this ground. He makes himself available in a way I far too often take for granted. Thomas Keating in The Better Part writes of contemplative prayer: To sum up, we don't need to ask for anything ... We settle into the present moment which is the only place God actually is. God is not in the past and not in the future. God is right now, totally present, totally available. Our best response is to be totally available to that presence. I know I have broken God's law in the past, and I will again in the future. At this moment however... listening closely... I will follow. Lord, you give me freedom to be here now. You are here with me. Jesus tells me not to worry about tomorrow or regret yesterday. Your kingdom and your righteousness are here for me to seek today. "; Add      Edit    Delete