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1 Corinthians 3:13 Each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. In the text of Deuteronomy the Children of Israel promise to, walk in God’s ways, to keep His statutes and his commandments and His rules, and to obey His voice (Deuteronomy 26:17). On many levels, this is a generic statement. Many people, each living different lifestyles, claim to live in keeping with God’s commandments and statutes. To walk in someone’s way is a Hebrew idiom for imitating them. Discipleship in the Sacred Texts is not to learn someone’s knowledge, but to imitate them. So to walk in God’s ways means to imitate Him. How then do we imitate God? An ancient Hebrew text puts it in very simple terms. It says that just as God clothed the naked (Genesis 3:31), we should also clothe the naked; that as God visited the sick when He came to Abraham in the plains of Mamre when he was recovering from his circumcision, so we should also visit the sick (Genesis 18:1). The text also mentions that as God appeared to Isaac after the death of his father Abraham, in the same manner we should comfort the mourning. Finally, we learn from this text that as God buried Moses in the plains of Moab, we should also give proper attention to the dead (b.Sotah 14a). Another ancient text mentions, ‘Just as the Holy One, blessed be He, is called Merciful, so shouldst thou be merciful. Just as He is called Gracious, so shouldst thou be gracious. Just as He is called Righteous, so shouldst thou be righteous. Just as He is called Devout, so shouldst thou be called devout (sifre on Deuteronomy 10:12). The Master followed this imitation principle of discipleship. He said, I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me. And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him." (John 8:28-29). According to the model of the ancient Jewish sages, Yeshua also encouraged us to, feed the hungry, clothe the naked and visit those in prison (Matthew 25:35-36). In fact, this is the type of righteousness He will look for in us as we meet Him at the End of Days. James also taught the early Hebrew congregations that, Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world (James 1:27). To sum it all up, acts of compassion and mercy seem to have much more to do with the Biblical way of walking after God’s commands than head stuffing of doctrines and accurate statements of faith. As we walk through life, may we always remember that when all is said and done at that the End of Days, our life’s work will tested by fire (1 Corinthians 3:13). At that time all the wood, hay and straw of pride, self-righteousness, selfishness and vanity will burn. At that time, only the gold, the silver, and the precious stones of the positive treatment of those made in the image of the Father will count in our Master’ eyes.
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