Good for You – The Kingdom Curriculum XIII (4)

Good for You

“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” Exodus 20:16; Deuteronomy 5:20

“You shall not put the LORD your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah. You shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and His testimonies and His statutes, which He has commanded you. And you shall do what is right and good in the sight of the LORD, that it may go well with you…” Deuteronomy 6:16-18

Truth Is Not a Burden

Talk to some Christians about the Law of God and walking in obedience to it, and they’ll furrow their brow, rub their chins, and maybe even shake their heads a little. Who wants to go back under that old yoke? The Jews couldn’t make it work; why should we be burdened by laws and commandments, when the Truth in Jesus has set us free? I’m not under Law; I’m under grace!

It is good for us to remember, from time to time, the observation of the Apostle John concerning the commandments of God: they are not burdensome (1 Jn. 5:3). God says His commandments are not burdensome. He says they give life, and they illumine our paths and guide us in the way of righteousness.  He tells us that meditating in His Law and living in it day by day are the way to know full and abundant life in Christ (Ps. 1:1).

I say it’s good for us to remember this because, to look at most of our lives, it would seem we don’t believe this is true. We say we love God, but do we keep His commandments, His testimonies, and His statutes? Do we spend any time reading or meditating on them? We act like the Law is more trouble than it’s worth, more a burden than a delight, more designed to oppress us than to make it well with our souls. Being honest to God requires that we not equivocate about where we stand in relationship to His Law.

God promises that it will go well with us if we make His Law the delight of our hearts, and if we are diligent in keeping it. If we believe Him, then let us get about the business of living His Law before Him, until we can say with the psalmist, “Oh, how I love Your Law!” (Ps. 119:97).

How can we use the Law of God to make wise ethical choices? Order your copy of The Ground for Christian Ethics today. Go to www.MyParuchia.com, point your browser to “Publications,” then click on the drop-down option, “Waxed Tablet Publications.”

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore.

T.M. Moore is editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001,2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Editor’s note: The use of a translation other than the Authorised Version in an article does not constitute an endorsement in whole or in part by The Christian Observer.