Good morning,
The law that sets you free.
I started out last week’s Monday Minute by pointing out that the single most important event since God decided to create the earth is what God’s Son, Jesus, did for the human race about 2,000 years ago. The Bible makes it very clear that God has given us life and his role in what happens when we live out our lives here on earth. At no time does God force us to do anything. He just knows what we will do as we go through life. The psalmist points out God’s role in our lives when he writes, You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. (Psa.139:15) God knows us as individuals while we are still being formed in our mothers womb. God is the designer for each of us. His design is based on the fact that, You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.(v.16) We have been given our lives as a gift in order for us to be a part of God’s eternal plan. We are then told that God is with us and thinking about us day and night. Jesus genuinely loves those who are given life here on earth. Jesus also clearly demonstrated his love for us when the time came for him to defeat Satan by his willing suffering, death and resurrection as full payment for all of our sins.
Now that Easter has come and gone, what does it all mean for the rest of the year? When John was writing about Jesus’ role in our lives he says, For you have given him authority over everyone in all the earth.(Joh.17:2) We must never forget that Jesus uses his authority as our lover and not as our enemy. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life and so he leads us to the truth of our sin nature, our need for him as our Savior, and the eternal life he will give us when we give ourselves to him as our Lord and Savior. Once we have become a member of God’s family we are given the gift of the Holy Spirit to help us know the way to love and live, to discover God’s truth and to live our lives for our Savior instead of living for ourselves. We are drawn to the Bible and begin to understand God’s right and wrong. But James warns us, And remember, it is a message to obey, not just to listen to. If you don't obey, you are only fooling yourself.(1;22) We need that warning because Satan, who hates God and his family, will do his best to keep us focused on ourselves, the sinful patterns of our cultures and the pressures that come from the sinful people around us. We must also remember that just because people go to a church, know something about the Bible, and give time and money to the needs of other people, doesn’t mean that they are genuine children of God. Satan is a master at getting people to become religious instead of lovers of the Savior. Some religions are built around getting people to do all the right things to keep God happy, while breaking God’s rules of love and forgiveness. Other religious people will just use the parts of the Bible that they like while worshiping success and personal pleasure. They live their lives based on false faith. People who are genuine believers will continue to remember the cross on which Jesus died and the blood that he lost while paying for their sins. They will keep listening and learning and growing in their faith in their Lover and Best Friend. Genuine believers live their lives loving and obeying God’s commandments. Dear Lord, will you please open our eyes and our hearts to know who we are and who we are serving?
James 1:25 But if you keep looking steadily into God's perfect law—the law that sets you free—and if you do what it says and don't forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.
Roy Wisner
