I have a friend who never speeds, NEVER. He's one of those people that you simply don't ever want to get behind if you're in a "hurry", but my guess is he's NEVER had a ticket either. He is one of those people you wish you were but realize you will probably never be and you find yourself wondering if he's actually human or not.
He probably has no idea about the shear terror most of us experience when they see the "law" parked on the side of the road, or the anxiety that takes over when the black and white turns behind you headed in the same direction when your in a "hurry".
We fear the "law" because at some level we recognize that we tend to be law breakers. We fear that the God of all the universe is like the cop who is looking for someone to ticket, someone to punish. But what if the "Law of God" wasn't about punishment? What if He wasn't waiting for someone to mess up so He could turn on His lights and embarrass you as all you friends drive by pointing and giggling?
What if He gave the "Law" in hopes that by it you and I might find life, not suffering? What if, at the core, we believed that our God was fundamentally good... all the time? What if we understood that, although we are not bound to the laws of the Old Testament, they are still beneficial to us for life and Godliness.
God claims that His 'Law" is life in Deuteronomy 30:13 and His desire is that we would truly live life to its fullest potential. The Psalmist in Psalm 119 spends chapter upon chapter describing his love for God's law and the joy he has found in keeping it.
When we begin to explore the Scriptures, both old and new testaments, with the basic assumption that our God is good and His desire is for our benefit, we will begin to hear His law through the ears of hope and see it through the eyes of understanding.
So, may you begin to discover that the Bible is not a book simply about religious life and private beliefs, but that it is about all of life for all people in all places and at all times. And may the Scriptures begin to transform the way we think about everything we encounter in life.
Learning To Think Biblical At All Times,
Pastor Jonathan Walker
