In kindergarten, my best friend was Daniel. It’s odd that I remember his name. I can’t remember any of my teacher’s names from elementary school, although I think there was a Mrs. Smith (No, not Angelina Jolie, more like a Mrs. Doubtfire) or a Mrs. Johnson. Daniel and I were best friends, and as boys do, at times we were best enemies.
One time at recess, we had our most memorable fight. We got in an argument, a crowd gathered, I picked up a stick, and in a Roger Clemens moment, nailed him right in his face. He fell to the ground, acting like he’d just lost an eye. I should have aimed for his mouth because he went on and on about how he was now blind and injured for life. As teachers came running to his aide, I told him if he’d move his stupid hand from his face, he’d miraculously be able to see again.
Well Daniel regained his eyesight, but not until after I was sent to the principal’s office. (Now I do remember my principal’s name, maybe I spent more time there than in my classroom.) He asked me the same moronic question asked by every law enforcer. You know the question, “Why did you do it?” What do you tell the friendly police officer who just pulled you over for speeding through a school zone? “Uh, I wanted to get home in time to catch Sportscenter.” “I wanted to see what celeb Dr Phil is fixing today.” No matter what you say, you’re caught, and you’re going to be punished.
Well, I was six and didn’t understand this. So as he waited patiently for my remorseful confession, my mind worked hard on a viable story. And this is what I came up with…
I have a stick collection in my room, and I was picking up sticks to examine if I wanted to add any of these to my collection. I picked up a large one, and to my dismay, realized that I already had this species in my collection. I simply threw the stick aside and continued on my quest for the next great stick discovery.
Seconds later I heard the exaggerated crying and moaning from my best friend who apparently walked right in the direction of the tossed stick. I quickly ran over to him, offering my aid and assistance.
I was pretty proud of myself, my principal not so much. I got punished at school, which involved a big round block of wood, and then punished again at home, which involved a big strong hand.
To this day, whenever I do something wrong, I get caught. Sometimes I own up to it, apologize, and then move on. And sometimes I digress to that six year-old boy making up stories about stick collections.
Ask someone how many commandments are in the bible and they’ll probably tell you, “ten”. The truth is, in the first five books of the bible, there are 613 commandments given by God. Makes me think that the people who feel that the bible is just a strict rulebook might have a point. There are 365 negative commandments – “Thou shalt not” and 248 positive commandments – “Thou shalt”
As followers of Christ, we believe that we are created in the image of God, thus we should behave in the manner of God; in a way that honors Him.
Martin Buber said it like this, “The fact that it has been revealed to us that we are made in God’s image gives us the incentive to unfold the image and in so doing to imitate God.”
Sounds good, but the reality is God isn’t addicted to pornography like us, He doesn’t lie like us, He doesn’t cheat, steal, covet, or the other 600 ways we consistently misrepresent Him.
I’m sober to the fact that I fail hundreds of times every day. One of the writers of the bible said, “Follow me as I follow Christ.” I’m not so bold.
But I’ve got some good news. It’s interesting to me that the 365 negative commandments equal the 365 blood vessels in the human body. The 248 positive commandments equal the 248 organs in the human bible. It gives new perspective to when Jesus told his followers to “Eat His flesh and drink His blood.”
Maybe the key isn’t getting it right, but instead walking with Him. The bible might have a long list of requirements, but following Jesus only has one… Come.
So I bless you to no longer keep score, but instead to simply walk the journey. A prophet named Jeremiah understood it when he said, “God loves with an everlasting love, and he draws you in with loving-kindness.”
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