11-13-2019

Good Morning All,

       Psalm 119:165; “Great peace have those who love your law; nothing can make them stumble.”

    In 1993, Junior Brown sang a song called “Highway Patrol”.  It was a song that talked about being a highway patrol officer.  Part of one of the verses goes like this:

So watch out what you're doin' when you're drivin' my way
If you break the law, you'll hear from me, I know
I'm a-workin' for the state I'm The Highway Patrol.

This simple somewhat silly song reflects how mist people view the law.  It is a list of rules that are designed for the “gotcha” principle; you break the law and now I’ve “gotcha”.  For many, trying to get around the law is part of life; we see what we can get away with.  How much over the speed limit can you go before they “gotcha”?  How much overweight can you be before the scales “gotcha?”  How much can you lie on your income tax before the IRS will audit and then “gotcha”?  Laws, it seems, are about limits and then our attempt to circumvent, avoid, distort or twist to our own designs. 

    This view of the law is why so many Christians struggle with the idea of “God’s Law”.  To many, it is simply a list of do’s and don’t’s that we are supposed to obey and when we don’t then God can grab us, shake us and say, “gotcha!” and nothing can be further from the truth.

    In the Bible, especially in the Hebrew of the Old Testament; the word “law” is actually “Torah” and this is better translated as directions or instructions or teachings.  It might be better if we viewed the Torah as our owners’ manual.  It is God telling us how we, as the human creatures that we are, are designed to operate.  Remember sin has wiped away from us all knowledge of God’s will and design for us; kind of like a magnet on an electronic tape.  So we have no way of knowing what our true purpose is and what occurs for us to function at our greatest capacity and ability.

    So God gave his Law, His Torah, to us so that we can learn how we humans were designed to live and to function properly.  Man was originally designed to care for the creation.  Sin clouded that to the point that sinful man exploits and abuses all of creation (of which humans are part).  God reveals to us the right and proper way to live.  Some call this righteousness, some call it holiness; either way, it is God speaking to us and explaining how we are to live.

    Thus God instructs and teaches.  When we fall short, when we sin; it harms our relationship with God, with creation and with ourselves.  It makes the darkness greater and our ability to see God less and less.  It separates us from God.  So God forgives and then invites us to see his Law and to be what we were meant to be; his loving children.

Father, guide me to see your Law as my journey in faith.  Lead me to trust in your mercy and to follow your Law.  Guide us to see that it is the love for us that moves you to give us your Law. Guide us as we travel with you.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.   

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret