The Plumbline

The Scriptures say, ‘I don’t want animal sacrifices; I want you to show kindness to people.’ You don’t really know what that means. If you understood it, you would not judge those who have done nothing wrong. (Matthew 12:7) Picture Jesus out with his followers, walking through the fields, probably on their way from one spot to another. It was the Sabbath - a day which carried very strict rules the religious of the day had to follow if they were to be even remotely close to being acknowledged by God. One such rule was that of not "working" on that holy day - so all manner of normal "housework" or "house care" was to have been pre-planned on the day prior to the Sabbath. This meant they prepared enough bread for two days instead of their normal one, laid aside a portion of the meat they had cooked on the day prior to the Sabbath for the partaking on the Sabbath, and ensured enough water was drawn from the well to make it through. It was like work shut do...

It is often human nature to judge others by some standard we hold up as the "yard stick" by which we measure their actions. Since the beginning of time, people have made all kinds of misjudgments based on what they "believe" at a given moment. Whenever we choose to compare our actions with those of another, how others respond to our actions versus the actions of the other, or what we imagine to be the better response to a circumstance, we are kind of moving into dangerous territory. The story of Cain and Abel wasn't just put into the Bible to teach us a blood sacrifice would be required for the forgiveness of sins. I was placed there as a way of helping us to understand just how "wrong" judgment can go when we get all wigged-out by our own "measures of success". One son had his gift offering accepted, the other's gift not so much. One was a farmer, the other a keeper of flocks. Cain brought some of the food he had grown, while Abel...