In everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the law and the prophets.

Matthew 7:12, NIV (1978)

Have you seen the movie "Hidden Figures"? It is one of the best movies I have seen down through the years, and I highly recommend it. The movie highlights the contributions of three black women who worked for NASA at the height of civil rights era, and who were an integral part of the space program. But the movie goes way beyond just black and white or male and female, for it shows how invested all of the people were in landing a man on the moon. 

There are several times where the director of the engineers and mathematicians (who were busy working on their individual calculations for their specific tasks) would call all of these geniuses together and remind them what they were doing all of this engineering and calculating for in the first place. They had a goal, a big picture if you will, of landing men safely on the moon and then bringing them safely home. It was an effort that, if successful, would propel the United States into a position of technological advancements that would effect everything from the economy to national security for years to come. These "Big Picture" moments were among the most powerful in the movie, as I suspect they were when they actually took place in real life. 

There are times when we need to pause for the Big Picture in our own lives, are there not?

Just before Cain made that fateful decision to kill his brother out of ill-reasoned hate and jealousy, God intervened one last time to try to get him to see the big picture. God pointed out to Cain that he would be acceptable if he simply did what was right. In Micah 6:8, the prophet points out to the people that if they would just love justice and mercy and humbly walk with God, that they would be accomplishing what they had been put here for. And in the passage above, Jesus points out that doing unto others as you would have they do to you actually summed up the message of the law and the prophets,

In each instance, God was not taking away any of His other commandments. He was merely trying to get us to see the Big Picture! He was trying to get us to see why we obeyed and why He had made all of His commandments in the first place. He was, in each example, distilling down to their very essence the reason behind the commands. He wanted us to see that the purpose was so that we might be acceptable by living in the right way (yes, there is a right way) and helping others to do the same.

People spend an awful lot of time, money and effort seeking these very truths, and they have always been hidden in plain sight. Perhaps the most notable example of this is recorded in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, when Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was. Instead of highlighting one of the Ten Commandments, Jesus selects not one, but two from outside of those Ten Commandments. This is how He words it in the Gospel of Mark:

"Hear O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD. And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these."

Mark 12:29-31, NASU

And there it is! Hidden in plain sight is our Big Picture. We are not here to run after the physical pursuits that so many run after in this world. We are not here to outdo one anther for God's approval. We are here to love God and our fellow men. If we will do so in the constructs of all of God's commands, we will be effective, productive, and acceptable in our service to both God and Christ. This is the reason for our existence, and if we do it well, it will be a most pleasant life indeed. 

Are you seeing the Big Picture that has always been hidden in plain sight? This is why we read the Word! It reminds us of the goal that Christ Jesus has called us heavenward for!

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