Yes! There is Good News! June 2, 2018

No more locks, no more security cameras, no longer any need to keep your eye on your baggage or laptop at the airport, for everyone has come to see the benefit of obeying the eighth commandment of God! I know; that is a fantasy scenario in today’s world. But is there anything wrong with it? It is good to see the ramifications of “Thou shall not steal.”

Last week we began looking at the law of God and maybe trying to understand that it is we who have gone astray from our God and Creator and not the other way around. And so if this is true, then we must place the blame squarely upon our shoulders for the chaos we see around us. God gave us the law as a gift and He tells His people, “I have taught you decrees and laws … that you may follow them in the land … Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations around you, who will hear about these decrees and say. ‘What other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today?’ ” (Deut. 4:6) By the way, did you know that the original colonies of the 17 and 18th centuries, used these very laws of God to set up their own laws and judicial systems!

I mentioned in the previous article, that Jesus said He did not come to abolish the law. And to this Paul agrees when he tells the Roman church, “I would not have known what sin was except through the law.” (Rom. 7:7) And then he goes on to say, in this discussion on sin, that “the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.” What should we twentieth century dwellers, make of this?

You know what? We all break the law. The scripture teaches us that, “There is no one righteous, not even one.” (Rom. 3:10) So the law of the state of Iowa tells us that the speed limit is 70 MPH on the interstate. Have you ever exceeded that? I have. And so I am a law breaker. This is a law of man, but Paul tells us later on in the book of Romans 13:1, “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities.” So where do we go with this whole concept of sin?

Allow me to cite a very recent example: I am a school bus driver. There are rules for the safety of the students, one of which is that the aisle must be clear at all times. This is actually a state law. On the last day of school, one of the pupils asked if we could forgo this rule because it was the last day. Hmmm. My answer was to ask her if it would be OK, because it was the last day, to ignore the stop sign at Hwy. 71 and just continue at 55 MPH on into Exira. Laws have reasons and laws have consequences.

God has blessed us with a beautiful set of laws. They are laws that will protect us and bring us security. And His laws are for our own good. A loving heavenly Father has told us what it is that we should do to stay out of trouble and, oh yes, He has told us just how it is that we should honor Him. The first commandment is, “You shall have no other gods before Me.” We perhaps chuckle at the ancient pagans and their idols; statues of wood, stone and precious metals. But if we are not somehow capable of keeping the simplest of laws made by man, can we really think that we do not break this first of the 10 commandments? “Oh how I love your law!” (Psalms119:97)