Alignment

Do you have rules or principles for life that remind you how to stay on course?

Nehemiah 8:8

They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people understood what was being read.

When the Law of God was read to the Israelites, they initially grieved. Perhaps it was because hearing it reminded them of what they lost in Babylonian exile for generations. Or maybe, like many modern minds, they experience the Law as restrictive.

But, the role of the Levites–the priests–was to illuminate the Law of God. And what they revealed, or perhaps it is more accurate to say reminded them of, is that there is joy in the Law of God. Rather than a reminder of defeat, it is a reminder of resilience. They survived what could have destroyed them and they rebuilt.

And when the Law was illuminated for them, they could also understand that the Law, when seen for what it truly offered, was a way to stay in alignment with God’s life affirming principles so that they never have to lose sight of the way again.

Do you have rules or principles for life that remind you how to stay on course? How committed are you to those principles?

— Pedro Silva