¹ At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. ² When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”

³ He answered, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? ⁴ He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. ⁵ Or haven’t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent? ⁶ I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. ⁷ If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent. ⁸ For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

⁹ Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, ¹⁰ and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to bring charges against Jesus, they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”

¹¹ He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? ¹² How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”

¹³ Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. ¹⁴ But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.

Dear God, I have to admit that I never liked the story of David and his men eating the consecrated bread. I don’t think Saul could have gotten away with that. The only thing I can figure out is that you realize that there is a time and a place for breaking rules. The times are few and the places are few, but apparently there is, indeed, at time and a place.

So what kinds of rules are open to interpretation at these special times and places? Of course, there is no way for me to figure that our here. And I think that I will end up having to make these evaluations as I encounter any given situation. But what I think the ultimate thing comes down to is, where is my heart in the decision to break a rule?

I spoke with a friend recently about her divorce. I have seen the pain of divorce up close and personal through my parents having been separated three times, so I can empathize, at least a little, with her pain. Ironically, that same night I was in a Bible study that discussed marriage. It was a Catholic study so they idea of divorce was nonexistent—you have to go through an annulment. The man who led the discussion, to my surprise, was on his fourth marriage. The first was in a Methodist church when he says he was young and dumb—it was short-lived. The second and third were done by Justices of the Peace—one was short and the other 16 years. Before he could marry the fourth time, however, he had recently become Catholic and they told him that he would have to go through the annulment process for at least the first one since that one was in a church (the other two were able to not count since they were civil ceremonies and not before you). The annulment process is apparently arduous, thorough, and not automatic. The Catholic church sees marriage as something that you joined together and only you can break. BUT, to their credit, I think, they do recognize that there is a time to break.

Father, I know my friend is still hurting. I know she would still love reconciliation. I don’t know that that is possible. That ship has likely sailed. So I ask that you would speak to her through your Word, through the books and devotionals that she reads, and through her friends. Help her to see how you are loving her through this. Help her to feel your hand on her life. Help her to see the ways you are touching her each day, each moment, that she didn’t realize before now. It’s an ugly situation, and while she is probably not totally blameless for all of the problems in the marriage, she is blameless in the area of wanting it to end. So honor her for that, help her to feel your release from it, and help her to live this day for you and not be distracted by what she no longer has.