You Mean We Have to Love the Law?

You Mean We Actually Have to Love the Law?

I have a confession to make. I broke the law recently. A few weeks ago Carol and I were on our way to Mt. Vernon to attend a cookout sponsored by our department secretary honoring our senior music majors. She and her husband have done this for several years. Music faculty and families are also invited.

We were cruising along comfortably in our new Saturn Aura when, just north of Fredericktown, here came a State Trooper the opposite way. My stomach dropped when he passed me, turned around, turned on his light and gestured for me to pull over. The officer got out and asked for the appropriate documents, which I had. He told me I was doing 68 in a 55 zone. He asked if I’d like to come and confirm this in his car. I said no thank you, and took his word for it.

He asked where we were headed. I told him to a cookout just out of Mt. Vernon. He then asked what time we needed to be there, I told him 6:00. He also asked me if I had received a citation within the last 30 days, which I had not – thank goodness…! He looked at his watch and said that we should be able to make it by 6:00 ok. He then told me that he was going to have to give me a citation. He went back to his car and returned a few minutes later. He gave me the ticket, and said if I wanted I could sign the ticket and send in a check for the fine – $120 – instead of going to court. He then told me to take care and drive safely.

Then, I thanked him…

Ok, what did I thank him for? He just gave me a ticket! It later dawned on me that even though there was no way to get out of the ticket short of going to court, and even then my chances would be pretty slim, he was so courteous I could hardly believe it. He called me “sir” several times, was right to the point, efficient, and was aware of our need to get to the cookout on time and safely. I guess I thanked him for his professionalism and courtesy…certainly not for giving me a ticket.

I have thought about this and have come to the conclusion that the law exists to help keep our society in working order. And, for the most part, it works. Laws are for everyone to obey, including the officer himself.

We have been reminded on several occasions that no one is above the law. I saw him doing his job, reminding me that speed limits exist for everyone’s safety, and if obeyed, we can all travel the highways freely without fearing for our lives. Those who do disobey the law (like me in this instance) have a price to pay. And, sometimes it is considerably more than a paltry $120.

Psalm 119, which is one of my favorite passages, is full of references to God’s law. In fact there are only about six or seven verses out of 176 that do NOT refer to God’s law in some way. The Psalmist takes great delight in it. There is something comforting about this majestic passage that reminds us of the eternal value of the law. However, in the New Testament, we are reminded that the law can only go so far. Grace is the name of the game there. Ephesians 2:8 states that we are saved by grace. On the other hand Paul states in Romans 7:7 that the law exists as a reminder of limits, sort of the definer of sin. Paul reminds us, for example, that he would not have known that coveting was sinful if the law of God had not said “Thou shalt not covet”.

So what is the order of things? The law defines sin, but can go no further. If the law was all there is, no one would ever be forgiven. The law simply does not have the power to re-create us in the image of Christ. This is where grace takes over. Paul also states in Romans that we are no longer under the law but under grace. The law has its place but grace must finish the job with the Spirit of Christ working within us.

Someone has said that mercy is withholding punishment that we deserve, and grace is extending forgiveness that we don’t deserve.

Like I said before, I’m no theologian, but I can say with the Psalmist, “I love your law…“, then bow in gratitude for the grace that takes over and has been extended to us through Christ.

Thanks be to God.

Trusting the Father

Trusting the Father

It’s a game that involves a three year old running to her dad, jumping, and him catching her. Jovie and David invented this game and Jovie will stand in the furthest part of our kitchen, while David sits on the floor of our living room, approximately 35-40 feet away. Jovie races across the kitchen, dining room and into the living room as fast as her 3 year old legs will take her, and literally jumps into David’s arms. They both laugh like crazy, enjoying the game.

As you can imagine, David does everything in his power to catch her securely and would, under no conditions, allow her to miss or be hurt in any way. Also, and this is critical, Jovie trusts David completely, therefore she gives the game her best effort. They played this game recently at our house and it hit me…Jovie trusts David absolutely. There is not one moment of doubt in her mind.

Then I thought, is it possible for us to trust God absolutely?

Let’s take a look at Proverbs 3:5-6. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” (NIV) The focus of this verse seems to be “with all your heart.” Does this speak to absolute trust? Yes, I think so; completely, and in all things.

We are then told to not depend solely on our own understanding. Our understanding is limited, no doubt about that; so, why not depend on the one whose understanding is not limited? Why not trust God absolutely? What is the result of all of this? If we acknowledge him in everything, he will make sure our paths are straight. Does that mean easy? No, obviously not. It means our vision will be clear, and our journey through this life and into the next will be also.

The fact is, we come up short in the area of trust, don’t we. Part of this is when our expectations are not met immediately. We are impatient (present company included) and expect God to act right away on something. When he doesn’t, our trust fades a bit. We don't think he will do anything; not soon enough anyway.

God exists in a different time situation than we do. To try to understand that is impossible, of course. Some have said that he can experience the past, present and future all together; in a kind of eternal present. Like I said, that is far beyond our understanding.

Ok, so what do we do since God seems to insist on our trust and it is not easy? Jesus chided those around him for their lack of faith. In Matthew 8, he rebuked the disciples on the boat when the sea acted up. “Why are you so afraid?” was his direct question. They had seen his miracles already, so what was the problem? In Matthew 17 he spoke of the “faith of a grain of mustard seed.” He told them that if their faith were like that, they could move mountains; probably referring to situations in our lives that seem impossible.

We are finite. We are limited. We are VERY human. We fail often. Our faith and trust wanes from time to time. Is absolute trust possible all the time? Probably not. What we need to do is practice trusting God everyday in everything. If we do, we might be surprised to see how those mountains don’t seem to be so big after all.

We can run to him and be 100% assured he will catch us.

Thanks be to God.

The Faith of a Child

If you ever wondered why Christ placed such a high premium on children and actually made their faith a model for us adults, I have a brief story for you.

Bella is now 4 and in her second year of preschool. Like every child there are scary things under her bed, in the closet, and other places in her room. Insecurities are also part of growing up that can make life pretty scary. And like every good parent, Brit and Mike try to dispel those fears by telling her those scary things are not there at all, and that she can overcome her fears.

Recently, this led to one of the most precious stories I’ve ever heard. Brit and Mike are open to telling Bella about Jesus and his place in our lives. Brit was putting Bella to bed and this is what happened, in Brit’s own words, as posted on Facebook the same day, December 8, 2014...

“I will never forget today. Hugging Bella before bed, she told me she was feeling lonely and scared, and asked me who would be with her in her room. I began to list off stuffed animals and toys, and she said, "No - that guy... who is in my heart?" I asked, "Jesus?" She said yes and asked me how to get him in her heart. We prayed and she just asked, "Dear Jesus, please come and live in my heart and protect me from the scary things." I cried. Welcome, sweet girl. “

The Bible tells the story of people bringing children to Christ so he could bless them. The disciples tried to stop them but Jesus made one of his most powerful statements. “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” (Luke 18:17)

This is what Christ says our faith should be like, child like, trusting, simple, believing that what God says or does has to be right and we follow his path. Like my dad used to say, “I know God is going to work this out. I just know it.” And he always did; not always the way dad wanted, and they certainly had their share of trouble, but it did get worked out. And dad always trusted that trusting God was the right way to go, even if it was painful or took a while.

However, adult life gets complicated. This is simply a fact of life and seems unavoidable. That is when our trusting faith must take over; the faith of a child. It’s ok to be upset, even angry. If so we take our frustrations to God and allow him to help us work them out. This is childlike faith. The trust is so profound that we do not hesitate to go to him.

There is absolutely no doubt that Bella now has Jesus in her heart and she will live for him the rest of her life.

Interestingly, my other granddaughter, Jovie, did the same thing a few weeks after.
The conversation went something like Janea telling Jovie how to pray for this. She said, “Oh, you mean like this?” and prayed the prayer. She was 3 at the time.

“Let the children come to me and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”

This seems crystal clear to me.

Thanks be to God.