Lawbreakers

I didn’t mean to be a lawbreaker. Who wants to be among the lawbreakers? I just wanted to be on time for my meeting. I pressed the accelerator as I entered the highway from the on ramp. Immediately I saw the blue lights.

The officer was friendly and courteous. I was friendly and courteous. I hoped he would show me some grace. He didn’t.

Until that incident, I could say the only speeding ticket I got in my life was on the way to a Bible study. I could also say it was more than 30 years ago. No more. It didn’t matter. My mostly good record did not cancel out the current offense.

I was guilty. One of the lawbreakers. I exceeded the speed limit. I would suffer the consequences. I didn’t actually have to go to court, but I did have to pay the fine.

Rules are part of life, necessary to maintain some degree of order. But we often don’t respond well to rules. Whether speed limits or wet paint signs, rules are frequently broken. Even our local walking park prominently displays a set of rules: “Foot traffic only;” “Do not feed the ducks;” “No fishing.” Yet people regularly show up with their bicycles or scooters, bread, and fishing poles.

There is another, more important set of laws we are all guilty of breaking. God has a perfect standard of holiness, and we all fall short. We have all sinned. We are all lawbreakers where His law is concerned. The Sovereign God who created the universe and gave us life has the right to make the rules. Sin is anything contrary to His standard. Even if we could keep all of the laws except one, we would be just as guilty as someone who broke them all (James 2:10).

 

But if we are honest, we know we are not even close to obeying all of His law. He even simplified it for us when He said the whole law is summed up in two: Love God and love your neighbor. How are we doing with that? Not very well, it seems. Whether subtle or blatant, rejecting or ignoring God’s direction or boundaries for our lives, makes us guilty of sin. Unlike the ease of paying a fine for a speeding ticket, there is nothing we can do to make ourselves right before God. He is holy. We are not.

The irony of resisting His rules is that when we do life His way, life goes better for us–not free of trouble or pain, but with more joy and a sense of fulfillment.

We can’t earn our way to heaven, or work ourselves into right relationship with God. But God, by His grace, gave us Jesus. He invites all of us to come to Him in the way He has established, through His Son. Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin. It was a debt we have no hope of setting right on our own. But Jesus makes us right again. His death and resurrection make it possible for us to have new life in Him. When we acknowledge what He did for us, we are covered by His righteousness. By His power, we can then turn from sin and live to honor Him. He deserves our honor and our obedience.

 

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1) NIV 

 

Blessings,
Phyllis

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Copyright 2023 Phyllis L. Farringer