The Message
The speed limit isn't there just to keep you from speeding -- it's to keep you safe. That's the ultimate purpose of it -- so you don't harm yourself or others. In the same way, we keep our kitchen knives on top of the fridge not because we want to deprive our children of the joy of playing with knives, but because we don't want them to hurt themselves or someone else -- our goal is to deliver our children into adulthood with all fingers and toes still attached.
The dietary laws were initially established as part of the overall law -- it's a small part of how every single piece of Christian life was oriented around God. The point was never just about the food -- it was about the people's relationship to God. The Pharisees were using the dietary laws to keep themselves in power, but they'd lost sight of the purpose.
When Jesus came, that relationship shifted. Jesus fulfilled the Law, and so while we are still obligated to serve the moral law, the ceremonial laws no longer were in force. Jesus tried to strip away what had been built up that was obstructing the worship of God. Jesus wants our eyes and hearts fully focused on God.
So what would your day be like today if you fully focused yourself on God? Can you pray while you work? Set aside time to be in silence before God? Who can you call? How can you serve?
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