Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the Lord your God that I give you. Deuteronomy 4:2

Friends – I apologize if this is garbled. I have an acute case of wedding brain. My daughter was engaged Easter weekend and within a month we have planned a wedding that will take place in less than five months. Yikes! My head is whirling. The wedding planning introduced me to the expression “Plus One.” A plus one is the additional, unnamed person who can be the guest of an invitee. 

It immediately made me think of Peter and Paul’s big argument about legalism. I’ve been reading Galatians recently, and in the third chapter Paul admonishes that the cross was enough. We don’t need to add any other requirements or regulations to be one with God. We don’t need a “plus one.”  

Paul argues that the cross creates a change in our status before God.  Legalistic works are not a prerequisite to what Jesus did on the cross, but a response, a reaction to our immense gratitude and love for what he did on that cross. 

NO PLUS ONES FOR GOD

We don’t need to add anything to what Jesus accomplished on that cross for us to be able to sit at his banquet table   For by grace, you are saved through faith and not by yourself. It is a gift of God…in Christ, our salvation is handed to us free of charge. Ephesians 2:8-9.

Similarly, in Deuteronomy, Moses warns the Israelites to pay attention to God’s statutes, and to not add a thing to the words that he is teaching them. No extra words, no plus ones. 

Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the Lord your God that I give you. Deuteronomy 4:2

These words made me stop, step back and seriously consider why we are subjecting ourselves to all of this fuss and expense in hosting a large wedding instead of just letting my daughter elope! Are we being legalistic and adding a plus one? What is the purpose of this wedding? 

Of course we know what the purpose is!  It is a response to God’s immense love for us. His beautiful love that has brought this couple together. And, equally important, it is an opportunity to put Christ front and center in the spotlight. There will be many at this wedding who have not asked for a seat at Christ’s banquet table. People who have not met him face to face. We want those people to have an intimate encounter with him while they are enjoying the wedding celebration.  

FOLLOW JESUS’ LEAD

As Jesus performed his first public miracle at a wedding (turning water into wine at the wedding of his cousin in Cana), we are praying for many miracles at this wedding! We are praying for the miracle of people encountering the living Lord in a very personal and tangible way. 

Reflecting on events coming up with your family and friends, join me in asking, ‘Father God, what do YOU want this to look like? How can we honor you? How can the sights, words, feeling, vibe reflect you? With every decision we have to make, Father God, we ask that we look to you and not add a plus one.’