Crossing the line.

     The Christian is expected to both NOT and TO cross the line.  Sounds conflicting doesn't it.  Well, there are several sides of this same issue to be examined.  First, let's look at the "not" side.  The Bible is full of things listed we are to not do.  The 10 commandments comes to mind right away.  Do not...!  Why not?  In the Old Testament those who believed in God were given rules in order to keep them from sinning.  There were even rules about the minutest problems.  Life was guided by the "Do not..!" Bible.  And so many chose to not step over the line and to them it was credited as righteousness.  You and I were raised in "do not" worlds dictated to us by parents, teachers, police, and many others in authority over you.  Even today we have "do not" rules that apply to touch, thought, and pretty much any and every part of our lives.  We, in turn, teach them to our children and grandchildren.  This is not a bad do not.  The purpose of the rule is to keep us in a safe and positive environment.  Do not cross the line.
     Unfortunately we focus on the old laws and "not" more than we should.  Jesus summed up the 10 commandments in two of his own.  The first one covered the first 4 of the 10 commandments.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind.  The second one covered the remaining 6 commandments.  Jesus said, Love your neighbor as yourself.  Pretty simple but so different from the Old Testament.  Here Jesus takes the two commandments and turns "not" into "to."  The freedom from the "not" give us life.  In giving the two "to" commands we are told what we are to do and not what we are forbidden to do.  Given the gravity of our choices, we tend to rely on the messages of the past.  We focus, still, on the "do not" when instructing our children and whomever we are in a teacher relationship with.  When we look at the two commandments Jesus made, we need to acknowledge we have tasks to do and our focus is no longer on the old "do not" but on the new command that we are to cross the line with a new heart. 
     "We've always done it that way."  To bad.  I understand the need of history as well as order.  What I don't understand are people who are so busy censoring other peoples behavior that they don't realize that they too are guilty.  Don't do it that way anymore.  I care about people enough to let them know that they are important and their needs should be met.  To that end, I cross that line and teach and preach Jesus resurrected.  The old way has been fulfilled and the new way open for us to go and help one another.  The focus is to the positive and to the future.  Crossing over the "to" line is the first step in making that focus the center of our lives.  We are no longer the 2 and 3 year old child continually asking "Why?" to every "not."  We are the precarious child who challenges the world and lives a life that doesn't fit the old way.  Where do you fit in the Christian world?  Do you live as Jesus has given us the freedom to?