Trying to keep the law is very difficult. Jesus
wants us to be free, so that we can get closer to Jesus. After all, our
Heavenly Father loves us and He would do anything for us: "Christ has set us
free to live a free life. So take your stand! Never again let anyone put a
harness of slavery on you." (Gal 5:1 MSG)
We don't have to be slaves. We are children of our
Heavenly Father. Jesus took our sins away, and now He says: "You are now
completely free and with our Father loves you, He will guide you!"
Now, at the words, "You are free", some will say,
"Hurray, I can do anything I want!
Prostitution...lying...stealing...Anything!" But if we truly love God, if we
are truly grateful for Jesus’ sacrifice that covers our sin, will we truly
want to go back into the dirt of sin? Besides, doing so will only end up
with us once again becoming slaves!
There is only one Savior: Jesus, the Christ, the
One who died for you to set you free. No more slavery. Now we are the
children of our Heavenly Father.
Sadly, some prefer to continue to try to work
their way into Heaven with good deeds. It seems to be an intricate part of
the human nature to want to be in control, that makes it so hard to let go
and accept that Jesus can do what we, ourselves, cannot. If this is you,
then I invite you to read the Bible text below:
"When you attempt to live by your own religious
plans and projects, you are cut off from Christ, you fall out of grace.
Meanwhile we expectantly wait for a satisfying relationship with the Spirit.
For in Christ, neither our most conscientious religion nor disregard of
religion amounts to anything. What matters is something far more interior:
faith expressed in love." (Galatians 5:4-6 MSG)
The bottom line is this: When we try to work our
way into Heaven by attempting to keep the law, Our Heavenly Father has no
part in us!
Let me explain: As a teacher, I have had many
different principals. Two, however, stand out in my mind.
One of these principals was always right and her
staff were always wrong. She responded to problems by pointing the finger of
blame back to the teacher. She believed in enforcing the law, with no
exceptions. This, however, often put the innocent in trouble. For example,
there was, quite naturally, a rule at our school against bullying. One day
several my students were filming a anti-bullying video out in the corridor
for a class project. The principal came down the hallway just in time to see
the filming of one of the "actors" pushing another "actor" into a locker.
She began to yell at my students--and at me!--for the next 15 minutes,
refusing to listen when we tried to explain that we were simply filming an
anti-bullying video. You can guess how many students and teachers liked and
respected her! None of them!
The second principal was always ready to come to
our assistance. When we went with my students to a zoo for example, and we
arrived back at school late, I would always know that when we arrived, she
will be waiting for us. She listened to our problems and did everything in
her power to help us resolve them. She also organized many fun nights for
her staff. We went out bowling, golfing, etc, and amazingly, every teacher
came to these events. As a staff, we were all very close.
May I ask which of these principals you would like
to have? The first one, who enforced the law with no exceptions? Or the
second one, who ruled over us in love?
Remember: Love will not hurt you. Love will help
you achieve your potential.
I invite you to read this verse every day for a
week. It will be an eye-opener to you:
"When you attempt to live by your own religious
plans and projects, you are cut off from Christ, you fall out of grace"
(Galatians 5:4 MSG)
Rob Chaffart