Firday 15 Aug 2008

Friday Reading: Romans 7:9-13



Key Verse: Romans 7:12

12  So indeed the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and just and good.



Devotion:
As I look back on my life as a new Christian (some years ago) I can see how I changed a little, but what is striking to look back on now is how much of a sinner I was – and still am. We think of ourselves as people who are “ok”, not as bad as others and maybe as good as some; but what we are doing is leaving out The Law. As soon as we start to compare ourselves with God's Law, we start to see how much we do sin and how much we have to let go of our former lives. We become as dead because there is so many little things that we never thought of before.

The more that we start to try and live as Christians the more we try to bend rules so that we can live within our own confines still. We like to think that we are doing the right thing by bending the rules just a tiny bit so that we can still do some of the things from our past. Does that then make it ok to do a little sin? I think not...

It was God's Law that showed us that we were sinners to start with. It was God's Law that showed us what we were doing wrong and that same Law that told us that the punishment for our sins was death. That is why we turned to God in the beginning. Why then do we not have the strength to turn our backs on that life once and for all? Why then do we hanker after that life even after we know that it is wrong?

The Law was made to be perfect, holy and just. It will always be perfect, holy and just. We are the ones that pick it up and change a few things so that we can go with a “law” that fits our needs. We are the ones that corrupt it and pass it on as the real law when it is not! Sin is what has corrupted the law and will continue to corrupt it in the same manner as dirty hands make other things dirty by covering the clean stuff with dirt... We need to take the law in its perfect, holy and just state and try our best to apply that to our lives so that we can show others that same true law rather than the dirty one we keep hold of... The commandments have not changed since they were given to Moses thousands of years ago – why should we think we could change them now?


Points to Ponder:

How many times have you “interpreted” rules to suit yourself?

 

Are you still trying to change God's Laws for your own sin?