Such Important Lines
Last week we looked closely at the 11 “lines” of creation; lines that divided, defined, and placed creation in order. This week, we begin by sitting with the final “line” of creation as God designed it to be —— this line is a line that God himself adhered to. He did it first. And in so doing, He showed us its necessity and value.
It is brief, clear, and unalterable —— and found in Genesis 2:1-3
“Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.”
This final line of creation marks the dividing line between work and rest.
Dear one, the beginning lines in the work of creation are GOD-sized:
Dividing light from darkness
Separating sky and water
Delineating land from seas
Creating and separating sun from moon and stars
Fish for the water and birds for the sky
Animals ( according to their kinds) separate from mankind who is made in God’s image
…and that’s an abbreviated list
This final “line” that separated one thing from another, is the ONLY line that we people can do and it is also the ONLY line that God became a part of.
He rested from work.
Does it give your heart pause as it does mine?
The realness of a loving God who can create all that we see in nature within a 6 day timespan —— amazing us with his great power, majesty and creativity —— and then placing HIMSELF within the limitations of a “line” He chose to place at the conclusion of creation. We’ve gotta just sit and hold that thought for a bit.
Then in Exodus (also written by Moses, inspired by God), we see that God revisits the importance of this “line” with the 4th commandment. Of the 10 commandments found in Exodus 20, the 4th commandment occupies 4 complete verses.
I can not ignore the silence that speaks loudly when reading Exodus 20: 1-17. For we see that 8 of the commandments are stated within one verse each. Two of the commandments require more than one verse. Sabbath rest is given 4 verses (v.8-11) and making no image to bow down to in idolatry is given 3 verses (v. 4-6).
I am not suggesting that one commandment is more important than another based on the number of verses used to explain it. For indeed if we are looking for which commandment is most important, Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior answered that question, “Love the Lord your God with all you heart, mind, soul, and strength. And love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:34-40; Mark 12:28-34; Luke 10:25-28)
So what can we carefully and accurately demise from the multiple verses used to present the commandments of Sabbath rest and making no idolatrous images to bow down to……many are the opinions in these waters…..mine is simply that God knew we people would too easily misunderstand if He did not clarify the commandment. Why would He spend so much time bringing clarity? Because it matters and He cares. And this brings us back to the value of a “line”.
Lines define spaces and bring clarity.
Without a line there is void, a blank page, a haze. With a line there is a direction, hope of progress and good forward movement.
Until God brought me to the place of meditating on His Good Line —— I never considered all that could be so meaningful, and even powerful, in the simple, uncomplicated image of a straight line.
But now, I see the orderliness a well placed, intentional line can bring —good gracious even the word “orderliness” has a straight-line-letter in the middle of it. :)
God loves order. God brings clarity. God began the Holy Pages by showing us HIS orderliness as He approached creating all of nature. We are created in His image. The clarifying lines are good for us as well.
In the book of Exodus, when the 10 commandments were etched in stone by God, he knew the people were poised to run-amuck if they did not have clear guidance. Clarifying lines offer clear guidance. So Moses hiked up the mountain and God gave Moses the 10 commandments we now read in Exodus 20. Even these commandments are “lines” of guidance presented in the form of commandments. When I was young I viewed them as points of control; as if God was a controlling, commanding King on a throne. But as I grew physically and spiritually I came to understand that God has no interest in controlling us for the sake of controlling us. Instead, God knows the good way — and He knows that we people need guidance, we need help, we need guidelines, we need “lines” to adhere to, we need to know “this is the way, walk in it”.
“Whether you turn to the right or the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it.’”
Isaiah 30:21
Oh friend —— “this is the way” calls out to us with the imagery of a path, a “line”.
As I write these words, I’ve lived over 6 decades and for much of my life I’ve lived, some might say, safely tucked in green pastures. But I’ve also experienced much of the harshness and cruelty that a broken, sinful world can and will deliver. Mostly I’ve experienced the worst of places when working to help others get out of dark valleys. And one common variable I’ve become consistently aware of is that lives land in dark valleys when they have no guidance, when their path has been muddied and confused, when they couldn’t find a line to follow ——sometimes when they refused to follow the “line” they had been given. It’s a tragedy to see a life land in fields of despair when it could have, would have, should have landed in green pastures beside still waters —— if only they had followed the good path, with the line that would have faithfully led them there. No matter how we begin. No matter what comes our way. There is always a way that leads to life. That way has “lines” marking the path. We all get to choose it —— or not. But the lines are there. The Bible is filled with these good guiding lines that will lead us to good places where blessings flow and good things grow.
Exodus 20:1-17 are commandments, but for the purpose of this writing I’ll call them good lines that if adhered to will always land us in good places. Life will still be hard; life is filled with challenges. But good-lines of Godly guidance will carry us through the hardest of places in the best of ways —— and we’ll find that our feet will pass through the mud and arrive again in green pastures IF we will choose to honor God and obey His commands. His commands are good-lines.
And God spoke all these words:
“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
1 “You shall have no other gods before me.
2 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
3 “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
4 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
5 “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
6 “You shall not murder.
7 “You shall not commit adultery.
8 “You shall not steal.
9 “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
10 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
They are all important to the heart of GOD — they are life-giving guiding-line commandments.
