Matthew 5:36 Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.

On the way home last night we saw an antique police car, complete with red domed bubble gum light. It was a black and white car. This was my inspiration for this devotional.

In my personal life I see things in black and white, right and wrong. The gray areas always got me in trouble. That is me, I live that way because I choose to do so for my own well-being. Where I go wrong is in acting as if everyone else should live the same way. That makes me the SP, Spiritual Police.

My rationale is not that I am being judgmental, I know the truth. The error in that rationale is that I have not adhered to Matthew 5:36, neither shall I swear by the truth (Jesus is my head, Jesus is truth) for I cannot make one thing black nor white. I am not sure, but I do not think I am alone in doing this.

In trying to draw this out to a more clear end, the police observe and bring accusations before a judge who then determines what is to be done with the accused. See it isn’t my responsibility to determine guilt or innocence but to bring offenders before the judge. But here is the problem:

Revelation 12:10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

Oops, that is Satan and I have taken on the role of or acted as Satan. That is as black as black gets.

That alone is enough for me to step away and back into the light.

Psalm 147:5 Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite.

Recently I spoke about verses that are easily misunderstood because our modern understanding does not match the understanding of the peoples of the time of the writing. What occurred to me the next day was something I had not thought about at the time of that writing.

God knew how we would understand those words in our present time.

Does that make our modern interpretation wrong or in error?

Is it possible for God to relate to each generation according to their personal experience? Well yes He can, but how is it possible that this God who inspired words to be written so long ago could make them relevant at any age?

We say that the Word is alive but what does that really mean? Is that an expression of relevance? If it is there is only one explanation which I find satisfying. God is Omnipresent. He has been there from the beginning and He is still here with us today. It isn’t the magical mystery of the written word that brings scriptures to life, it is His presence that makes the Word alive.

Ephesians 1:9 Having made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure, which He hath purposed in Himself.

That is just a true today as when Paul wrote it nearly two thousand years ago. The mystery of His will is how we can all listen to the same sermon and come away with a different message. Relevance is personal and no preacher can plan a sermon to fit everyone. All he can try to do is be faithful to God in his preparation and trust that God will be present in the message. Christ in us, God in us, the Holy Spirit in us is the relevant mystery.