Keeping the Law

-

 "Those who forsake the law praise the wicked, but those who keep the law strive against them."

-- Proverbs 28:4


The first five books of the Bible are referred to as "The Law".  It's not really the greatest word to describe what is contained in them because, although there are laws or commands, it could be more accurately described as the story of the relationship between God and the people of Israel. As a part of this relationship which the LORD initiated through various covenants, there were expectations to be met. The people were expected to keep God's laws.

As becomes clear when you read the New Testament, keeping God's laws was not possible for anyone. So when Jesus came and kept all of God's laws, he not only provided the means for people to be saved from the consequences of breaking the law, he also, by his actions, emphasized that the law is righteous and all together good. 

As followers of Christ we also follow in his footsteps in following God's law or commands. No, we cannot follow it perfectly. No, we don't always desire to follow it. No, we don't follow it because we think it will earn us any kind of standing before God. We follow it because we love God. We follow it because we desire in our hearts to be holy like he is holy. 

When we think about following God's laws which are his commands to us, let us move beyond the thought of not getting into trouble. Let us move beyond the idea of striving to be a good person. Instead let us recognize that our attitude toward doing what God says reveals what is in our hearts, whether we love what is wicked or whether we love what is true. The Lord writes his laws on our hearts so that we will follow them out of love for a holy and righteous God. 

Father, teach us to love your commands. They come from you because of your love for us. We acknowledge your wisdom in giving us boundaries. Help us to stay within the bounds of your law. 




Devoted to keeping Jesus Christ the main thing.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Self-Control

-
“A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.” Proverbs 25:28   A city which builds walls around it does so to protect itself from its enemies. If the wall is in disrepair or broken down, it leaves itself open to attack. There is no longer any reasonable sense of security. The comparison to a man without self-control follows. He has no reason to believe that he will be protected from his enemies. The interesting twist is that his enemies come from within instead of without. His lack of self-control keeps him unprotected from the evil that is within his heart. The things that Jesus talked about in Mark 7:21-22, “For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness.” When we receive Jesus as the Lord of our life, he begins a work in our hearts which puts a hold on the evil that comes from within. Self-control is a frui
Read more

Train Up A Child

-
“Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6   When our son was young, we had this verse displayed in his room. The picture that went with it was a train. Although that was a play on words, there is something to be said about how an actual train works that is insightful in our walk with Christ. A train does not deviate from predetermined tracks, unless there is a bad accident. The train is not like a car that can choose its’ own route. In order to go anywhere it must have the two rails to guide it. In the same way our spiritual direction has been pre-determined by the Lord. If we are to go anywhere, spiritually speaking, it must be in line with the Word of God and the Spirit of God. We must have both. The Pharisees had the Word of God, but their hearts were hard. They were not led by God’s Spirit. The Corinthians were led by the Spirit, but the apostle Paul had many words of instruction for them because they were no
Read more

Strongholds

-
“A wise man scales the city of the mighty and brings down the stronghold in which they trust.” Proverbs 21:22   A stronghold is in fact something that has a strong hold over us. Strongholds are not easily dislodged otherwise they would be called weak-holds. It takes more than strength of will to bring down a stronghold. It takes wisdom. Wisdom can be defined as “knowing what the greatest goal is in any situation, and what the best way is to achieve it.” (John Piper) When you talk about pulling down a stronghold, courage must also be involved. Knowing that a stronghold must go does not make the act of getting rid of it any easier. It takes hard work and great skill to scale the stronghold, whatever it may be. It would seem that the greater the stronghold, the greater the wisdom is needed to bring it down. Every stronghold is different. Therefore, the solution to each one is different. Wisdom that is effective in one area will not be sufficient for another area. This is one rea
Read more