"Next!"

Standing in line for over an hour, I rocked back and forth to keep the blood flowing through my legs. I looked at the others in line. Of all walks of life, some in jeans and t-shirts others dressed for work. One man in a suit impatiently made a bee-line to the woman behind the counter. After a brief dismissal he fumed as he made his way to the back of the line. I shuffled through my papers as I day dreamed of running through wide-open fields. Finally, I was standing face-to-face with the one who could complete this mundane task and relieve me of my boredom. The matter-of-fact woman took one look at my DMV papers, muttered something about “wrong line” and directed me to line 2. I took a quick glance at line 2 and it had an even longer line than the one I was just in. As I was about to protest, she commanded “NEXT” that would send shivers down the back of General Patton. Resigned that I would have to forage for food to survive, I took my place in the back of line two.

I desired to achieve something (a new driver’s license), but had to do what was necessary to fulfill the requirements (training, testing, paperwork and now standing in line) of CA state law. Now, 20+ years later, I still loathe the thought of standing in line due to the wasted hours that day just to fulfill the DMV requirements for a driver’s license.

In my study in Mark, Jesus was often accused of not fulfilling the law by Pharisees and Teachers of the Law as they sought to discredit him before the people. In Mark 7 Jesus redirected the fulfillment of the law was deeper than the surface traditions of men. As Jesus was accused of not washing himself according to the traditions of the elders, He revealed a new fulfillment of the law.

Nothing outside a man can make him ‘unclean’ by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him ‘unclean. – Mark 7:15

Jesus further explained that it is from within that makes a man unclean: evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, evil, slander and folly. The Pharisees had their attention and focus on the details of man’s traditions instead of the heart of God’s commands. Jesus became increasingly irritated with them as He saw that their requirements to “fulfill the law” were frustrating and demoralizing the Jewish people. I am glad that I follow the Law of Christ and not man’s traditions. Jesus Christ came to fulfill the law of Moses and of the Prophets and fully satisfied the requirements for right standing before God our Father.

At the DMV that day, I felt helpless and exasperated at being under the circumstances and control of another’s requirements. I was relieved when I finally walked out of the DMV office with my shiny new driver’s license. But as I fumbled for my keys my joy quickly dissipated when I remembered I had to return within a month for smog/inspection and register my rusty 1973 yellow Ford Pinto.