Lay Down the Law!

Saturday, October 29th, 2011

Today's Passage: Romans chapter 7
Memory Verse> Rom. 7: 6-7

It never seems to fail: we operate in a certain degree of responsibility and ability to do what we're supposed to do without having to be told we MUST do it. We take care of our bodies by eating right, getting proper rest, and exercising when we can. But the minute someone lays down the law about it-- say a doctor, for instance -- it becomes one of the hardest things we could ever consider doing. The same thing goes when the word "fasting" is mentioned. All of a sudden, what I seemed to be able to do without any effort (skipping 1 or 2 meals a day just for the sake of it) bturns into an impossible feat.

Sound familiar? This is the same dilemma many believers face whether they are new to the faith or older. What makes the law so hard to follow? Is it because in it's very nature the law is a hard taskmaster that makes us feel as if we're being forced to give up things that we hold dear to us, even if in reality we're really not? I often wonder what I would've done in Adam and Eve's place had I heard these words for the first time: "You may NOT eat from that one tree in the middle of the garden". It seems easy enough to imagine that, if it were I, I would've been content to enjoy all the millions of lush vegetation created with me in mind, taking advantage of every possible fruit I could even dream of.

But before my imagination goes too far from me, I remember that Satan had already made his entrance by the time Adam and Eve were created. He was determined to destroy everything that God had perfectly made. So God in His omniscience created the law to teach us to lean only on our relationship to Him rather than on any created thing. Remember the conversation Eve had with the snake? The moment he made his suggestion, what was her response? She repeated the law("God told us not to eat of that tree"). Now imagine with me how differently things would've turned out if she had responded: "I don't think we'll be doing that, for our Father has provided for ALL our needs!". Better yet, what would've happened to the enemy's plan if she'd realized how incapable she was of handling such a slick talker and just YELLED out for her Creator? She'd received all that love and companionship from God, but when it really counted, all she could focus on was what she was told NOT to do.

God used the opportunity of the fall to teach us that as long as there is sin in the world, we will side with it when we're required to choose. As long as we live in our flesh suit, which is patterned after the first Adam, we cannot depend totally on the law to be obedient to God. We must be willing to lean on what Christ did for us on the cross. Here's an easy way to remember this: when we depend on do's and don'ts, walking in condemnation of anyone who doesn't measure up, who gets glorified? Certainly NOT God. But when we realize our frailty and total dependence on the Good Shepherd, calling out for Him rather than walking away and foolishly thinking we can handle sin on our own, all we're doing is repeating the pattern and opening the door for the accuser of the brethren to condemn US before God. Why not lay down a NEW law and start a revolution of walking in total dependence on His will for our lives?

Prayer: Father, I look over my life and see how many deadly mistakes I made by trusting the law to make me obey Your will for my life. I turn from those ways now, and make a commitment by Your Grace to trust You completely. Through Your process of renewing my mind, I will be transformed from the inside out. And You alone will get the glory. In Jesus' Name, Amen.