Today’s Scripture Reading (September
9, 2012): Deuteronomy 10
When I was a
teen I remember going over to the church with my Pastor. It was a small,
country church in the middle of a small town. We needed to get into the church
for something, but when we arrived at the church my Pastor realized that he had
forgotten his keys. We were standing at the front door of the church as he went
through his pockets, and then he simply motioned for me to follow him. Together
we walked around to a side door of the church. There, he took out his pocket knife
and proceeded to open the side door. I still remember staring at the open door
and asking what was to him a silly question – “should we not get that fixed?”
And I still remember his answer. “Locks only
keep out the honest people. If someone wants to break into the church, a better
lock is not going to stop them.”
I had never
really considered that. In my world, honest people did not try to open locked
doors and it was crooks who tried to get beyond the crudely locked doors. It
was an awakening. Whether or not my Pastor right about the state of the
marginally locked church door, he was right that much of our behavior is about our
intentions. And because it is our intentions that govern behavior that means
that rules are only going to be marginally successful at modifying our behavior.
What really matters is what it is that we intend to do.
And from
beginning that was to be understood. Moses instructs the people to circumcise their
hearts – literally to be aware of their intentions, because it is their
intentions that will most likely lead them into sin. In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus instructs his
disciples to pray – Lord, lead us not into temptation. But there is something
else that we need to remember. We need to watch our heart’s intention to commit
sin. Often there is no “leading into sin” necessary – we do that well
ourselves.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading:
Deuteronomy 11
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