Dear Faith Family,
What God does, is free us from the things that suppress our flourishing, keeping us from being who He made us to be. He often does so in a timing and manner that leaves us in awe at His intimate affection and might, yet bewildered at His unpredictability.
After all, who could have imagined God would use a slave boy inadvertently rescued and raised by his oppressors, who lost his way and wealth only to return to the roots of his shepherding ancestry as the vessel for returning God's people to their place and purpose in the world? Not to mention the apparently odd yet contextually spot-on cosmic displays that accompanied this spokesperson's obedient actions? Did anyone see that coming? God acting on behalf of His own, sure. But in those specific ways?
Fast forward a few millennia and the same awe and bewilderment accompanied God's once and final freeing actions, this time through the carpenter's kid, who happened to be the King of the universe. This time, cosmic power was displayed not in overwhelming force but in a sacrificial death and its short-lived victory. Who could have seen that coming? Oh sure, a few did, or at least had an idea that God could work that way, but even they were caught off guard by the timing and methods of their rescue and restoration.
From beginning to end, our scriptures testify to the reality that we can know and trust that God is for us and God is with us, but when and how He does His thing often evades our forecasting. If we miss that, that God's work on our behalf is primary to living (i.e., The First Word) and that His working in our living is beyond what our limited visions can craft (i.e., The Second Word), then we are likely to go about making a life in a way that makes the name (the character and work) of God empty.
Like Chaz said a couple of Sundays ago, The Third Word is not a prohibition on coarse language (though, as he rightly pointed out, our words evidence our hearts' dispositions), but rather, an admonition to, as the apostle Paul would later say, not squander our freedom by submitting again to the yoke of slavery (Gal. 5:1-15). Or to say it positively, the third word exhorts us to remain ever in awe and wonder at the surprising grace of our Father's ceaseless, shaping care.
Remember, the 'natural law' of these foundational "Ten Words" is a movement towards more freedom, becoming our true selves: ones bound by love in liberty, whose everyday existence in work and rest and relationship and responsibility is a non-anxious transformative presence for the good. One's who do not squander Jesus' hard-won gift of freedom but who use freedom to serve one another in love, who see it grow in us and those around us in whatever we do, in word or deed, in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father.
So, take a few minutes today and ask yourself, "Am I living amazed by grace?" Then read Psalm 139:2-18, letting the Spirit guide you to ponder the wonderous work and innumerable ways our Father has cared for and crafted you to be who and where you are this day, and then enter your labors empowered by grace.
Love you, faith family! God bless.