JULY42023

Henry David Thoreau is supposed to have said, “that government is best which governs least.” This captures common law (the kind of law in the US) which makes only those laws necessary for good order. The Bible, on the other hand, paints law as an ideal, something we aspire to. Of course, we can never achieve the ideal so God always makes exceptions. At the very beginning of salvation history God tells Lot to flee to the hills from the destruction to come. Lot objects that he can’t do what God asks of him and proposes an easier path. “I will also grant you the favor you now ask,” God answers. As we strive to live in God’s ideal law God knows that we are limited and fallible. God cuts us some slack as well, asking us only to do the best that we can. God will supply the lack.