Some people see guidelines as laws. Others see laws as guidelines. The truly perceptive understand the deeper meaning and purpose of both guidelines and laws along with which are just and which are unnecessary redundancy.

The Tradition of the Elders added thirty-nine categories of work that were to be avoided on the Sabbath. Number thirty-nine was about carrying a load from one dwelling to another. This amplified God’s command to rest on the Sabbath found in Exodus 20:8-11. 

So Jesus, in fact, asked this man to break the rules, right? The commandment of God was about ceasing from labor for financial gain. The Tradition of the Elders was a sort of fence of thirty-nine rails to prevent anyone from getting close to breaking the actual commandment. The Tradition became more important than the Law, a point Jesus made again and again. The Tradition missed the heart of the Law. 

In other words, some rules are meant to be broken. Unjust laws may be justly ignored or abrogated. 

Do not, however, miss the miracle. Jesus told the man, “Get up, pick up your mat and walk.” Do you remember Jesus’ question from verse 6? “Do you want to get well?” Do you remember the tepid response the man offered in verse 7? Here we see the man’s answer by his actions rather than hearing it with his words. “Instantly the man got well, picked up his mat, and started to walk,” (verse 9).

The secret to living with wisdom and power is hearing Jesus and doing what he says. 

Jesus said, 

1. Get up
2. Pick up your mat
3. Walk

The man

1. Got up
2. Picked up his mat
3. Walked

What is Jesus saying to you today? 

Hint: He speaks to those who learn how to listen to his voice. The single most important thing we can ever learn is how to hear Jesus. Lesson number one is asking him to speak to your heart. 

• Ask him to give you his directions regarding a decision you need to make. 
• Ask him to give you guidance regarding a direction you should take. 
• Ask him to give you wisdom, insight, and understanding on a particular matter where you currently lack clarity. 

When you hear what he says, do what he says. This is the way of wisdom. This is the medium of miracles. 

You can live with wisdom and power, or you can sit around in your suffering circumstances. Wisdom and power are much more exhilarating.

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