Bundled Living

For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching is light; and reproofs for discipline are the way of life. Proverbs 6:23

Commandment, Teaching, Reproofs – In modern marketing techniques, we are often subject to bundled pricing.  If you want the sports channel, you have to buy the package that comes with three shopping networks and a cooking site.  God uses the same technique, but His plan is designed to give you everything you need for living and nothing you don’t need.

The three Hebrew words here are crucial.  First, we have mitzvah.  Although it can mean human commands, in the first five books of the Bible, this word is only applied to God’s commands.  What God tells us to do is intended to bring life.

The second word here is torah.  We should translate it “instructions,” knowing that torah is much more than rules.  Mitzvah might be direct commands from God, but torah is an all-encompassing way of living.  Torah-obedience sets God’s children apart from the world.  That’s what it means to be “holy” – set apart for God’s use.  Isn’t it interesting that God tells us exactly what it means to be sanctified and holy?  It means living according to His instructions.   That’s all, nothing added.

Finally, there’s tokehah.  This is the word for correcting something that is wrong.  This is the third part of the bundled package.  You don’t get commands and instructions for holiness without correction.  God knows that we will mess up, so He packages rebukes and reproofs into the deal.

All of this makes perfect sense.  God has our very best in mind, so He puts together exactly what we need to reach the goal of conformity to His character.  We need His direct orders; we need His instructions for living; and we need His correction.  Ignore any one of the three and you are in for trouble.

The funny thing is that Christians acknowledge the truth of this combination when we say that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life.  We are saying that the personal embodiment of God’s Word, seen in human flesh and blood, is life.  We proudly announce to the dying world that Jesus is the only way to life.  We believe it.  We have experienced it.  But we have forgotten that a thousand years before the manifestation of God’s Word showed up in human form, God told us that mitzvah, torah, and tokehah is what it means to say “The Word is life.”   Jesus is the living perfection of the bundled package.  His life shows us exactly what Proverbs 6:23 means.

There is a reason why John says that the Word tabernacled among us (John 1:14).  Forgiveness of sins is only a small part of the purpose.  When the Word became flesh, God allowed us to see in human form the intended design for living.  It’s hard to imagine that we follow a Savior and Lord who reveals God’s bundled living package and, at the same time, ignore what that Word means when it is unpacked.  How about you?  Are you living bundled or are you trying to only buy the sports channel.

Topical Index:  The Life