AUGUST 29, 2014
Terms
Of Service
Read: Luke
6:27-37
Forgive, and you will be forgiven. —Luke
6:37
If you’re like me, you
seldom read the full text of contracts for online services before you agree to
them. They go on for pages, and most of the legal jargon makes no sense to
ordinary people like me.
I was quite surprised,
therefore, when a friend from Africa made me aware of this one-of-a-kind
service agreement for online software. Instead of a wordy license telling
people how not to use it, the developer offers a simple blessing urging people
to use it for good:
May you do good and
not evil. May you find forgiveness for yourself and forgive others. May you
share freely, never taking more than you give.
At first I thought,
Wow. Imagine if more terms of service agreements were written as blessings
instead of legal documents. Then I thought, The agreement Jesus makes with us
is like that. He offers us forgiveness of sin, peace with God, and the presence
of the Holy Spirit. In return, all He asks is that we do good (Gal. 6:10),
forgive as we’ve been forgiven (Luke 6:37), and love others as He loves us
(John 13:34).
The beauty of Jesus’
agreement with us is that even though we fail to live up to the terms, we still
receive the blessing.
Bestowed with benefits
daily,
Sent from the Father
above;
Mercies and blessings
abounding,
Gifts of His marvelous
love. —Anon.
As we have
opportunity, let us do good to all. —Galatians 6:10
Insight
In Luke 6:20-49, Luke
recorded a sermon by Jesus that is similar to the sermon recorded in Matthew
5–7. Some scholars believe it was the same sermon, while others say that Jesus
taught in two different settings. In Matthew, he taught it “on a mountain”
(5:1), while here, Jesus taught these same truths “on a level place” (Luke
6:17).
Source:
Our Daily Bread 2012
