Loopholes and Love
God's delight is not just in fulfilling a contract, but in making us totally satisfied customers.
A fellow had been away fishing all day and had no luck. Not wanting to go home skunked, he stopped off at a local fish shop and asked the storekeeper to pick out three of the largest trout that he had. “Shall I wrap them for you?” asked the man.
”No,” replied the fisherman. “I’ll stand here by the door, and you throw them to me from behind the counter.”
“Why in the world do you want me to throw them to you?” asked the shopkeeper.
“Well,” said the fisherman, “I’ve been fishing all day, and I haven’t caught a thing. Now I may not be a good fisherman, but I’m a worse liar. And when I get home, my wife and kids are going to ask me if I caught anything . . . and I want to be able to tell them the truth.”
The truth. Yeah, right. I suppose, technically, it would be something close to the truth, something somewhat keeping the letter of the law. But what about the spirit of the law? And what about the times we’ve done just the same? Compliance to policies at work. Communicating with a spouse. Meeting contractual obligations. But at some point we’ve done it with something less than we know is right. We’ve kept the letter of the law, all right. But we’ve forgotten about the fulfillment of the law.
“Love is the fulfillment of the law,” the Bible reminds us. “Love must be sincere” (Romans 13:10, 12:9). Like God’s love for us.
God promises to give us daily bread. Keeping that promise to the letter would mean giving us, every day, every meal, well, bread. Blah. Instead, God goes beyond even the spirit of his promise and he gives us taste buds, teasing them with a vast array of delicacies.
God promises to count the hairs on our heads. Keeping that promise to the letter is nice, but I really don’t worry about my hair as much as the pressure at work and the conflict in my family relationships and the uncertainty about the economy. Well, God goes beyond even the spirit of his promise, accounting for every last detail of our day as much as he takes note of every sparrow that falls to ground – even knowing it all beforehand!
Our God loves us so much that his generosity spills over into us like grandparents smother their grandchildren with love that spoils them to no end. He’s not a “letter of the law” God but a “spirit of the law.” His delight is not just fulfilling a contract, but in making us totally satisfied customers. A satisfaction that finds its own delight in him and his grace.
Let that be your goal, too, when relating to others. Love. Not loopholes. Spirit. Not letter.
PRAYER: Dear gracious and generous God, when I’ve given you less you’ve given me more, when I’ve kept from you then you’ve provided for me. May that way of generous sharing and loving lead me to treat others more graciously. Amen.