Re-defining students' babies as...CATS???

Talk about loopholes!  In the 1950's, babies of students could not enter Trinity Hall, Cambridge.  In order to make it possible for them to be allowed in, babies were re-defined as...cats!!

It sounds absurd, doesn't it?  Rather demeaning, too, it seems to me.  But how very human! We re-interpret, re-define, re-adjust rules, looking for a way to make it OK to do something, knowing it may not be quite in line with the "spirit of the law"...as long as we can make the "letter of the law" justify us.  Or the other way around: "it may be against the letter of the law, but it's in keeping with the spirit of the law." Sneaky. We're really good at that "loophole" stuff!!
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I like Jesus' answer to an expert in the law who asked him a question.  Jesus said, "What is written in the Law?  How do you read it?"  (Luke 10:26)  I can just  imagine Him emphasizing "you".

James warns us:  "When you judge the law, you are not keeping it."  (James 4:11)  Oh...oops!  There go the rationalizations like "nobody else obeys it" or "it's unfair" or "it's out-dated" or "does it really apply to me?"

It's true that we're not under the Law of the Old Testament, but we still must live within God's rules and requirements for His children.  "Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil;  live as servants of God."  (I Peter 2:16)

"...he who respects a command is rewarded."  (Proverbs 13:13)

We all know of "Christian" leaders who twist things around, sometimes terribly,  gaining a wider following and a wider wallet!  Some may just be mistaken and foolish, as it says in II Peter 3:16:  "...which ignorant people distort, as they do other Scriptures, to their own destruction."  Others do it on purpose.  They're masters of loopholes and re-definitions.  Speaking of false teachers:  "They secretly introduce destructive heresies...bringing swift destruction to themselves."  (II Peter 2:1)  I could name some names, but most of you know the kind of person I'm talking about.
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Let's just try to remember that God's way of doing things is so much better than our own, that it's rather foolish to try doing them any other way.   Psalm 19 tells us that God's law revives the soul, makes us wise, gives us joy, gives light to our eyes..."By them is your servant warned, in keeping them there is great reward."  (Psalm 19:11)

Father, give us the strength to resist accommodating your precepts to suit our own purposes!  After all, your purposes are aimed at our well-being, springing from your unlimited wisdom and love.  Nothing we might try to twist around for our benefit is really worth it in the long run.

"You are good, and what You do is good; teach me your decrees."  (Psalm 119: 68)

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