Is there a category for ridiculous news and ideas? Maybe that’s a niche for a new website. You would never run out of material.

In America, we all know most of these ideas come out of Washington, DC, but this news comes out of Egypt.

With Egypt at a time of real political and social turmoil, an Islamic group in Egypt has banned tomatoes and called on Muslims to shun the fruit filled with important vitamins.

What’s wrong with a tomato? It’s Christian. It promotes the cross and emphasizes the trinity. Take a look at the picture from the group’s website. The inside of a tomato does in fact look like the Crusader cross.

The group is a sect of Islam called Salafists. They are considered extreme even by Muslim standards. Egypt has an estimated 6 million Salafists.

Here’s the point for you and me. We are all in danger of emphasizing the trivial and ignoring the meaningful. All you have to do is look around to see legalistic or judgmental tendencies all around us. Legalism simply leads to more legalism. If you find yourself moving down the legalistic path, you will find that you can never get legalistic enough.

No wonder Jesus attacked legalism head on. He described those who emphasized the trivial and ignored the weightier matters of the law. Jesus designated two commandments as the greatest of all. First, love the Lord your God with all your heart and second, love your neighbor as yourself. In essence, Jesus said if you follow these two, you don’t have to worry about the rest. These two commandments emphasize loving and pleasing God by giving all of our devotion to Him. When we love God and love neighbor, we will treat others as God desires them to be treated.

Paul rejoiced in being free from legalism. He rejoiced to live by the standards of God and to not worry about the legalism of men. Paul understood legalism fully. He wrote to the Galatian Christians who were under seige by legalists: “All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in tthe Book of the Law’ ” (Galatians 3:10).

So, what is the solution? “Live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. . . . But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law” (Galatians 5:16-18).

Let God’s Spirit fill you today. It’s really the only way to live.

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