Free to Pursue God’s Priorities – The Law of Liberty (18)

Free to Pursue God’s Priorities

The Law of Liberty (18)

Readers will gain a better perspective on the main teaching of this series by reading The Ground for Christian Ethics, by T. M. Go to www.MyParuchia.com, click Publications, then click Waxed Tablet, and scroll down until you see this little volume.

Make your face to shine upon your servant, and teach me your statutes. Psalm 119:135

In the human soul, the conscience functions as the keeper of priorities, values, and default choices. In that respect it is nearly equal to the will. Except when people are reacting instinctively to something–such as ducking a foul ball–they usually act on the basis of some internal decision. That decision is comprised of elements of thinking, certain kinds of attitudes and feelings, and the priorities of the conscience. When those priorities are firm and unyielding, they will referee between our hearts and minds, so that we act consistently in every situation. Consistently acting one way or another produces a recognizable character.

But what if those values and default choices are unwise, or wrong? This is certainly becoming the case throughout much of our society. In some quarters, when, for example, an unwanted pregnancy is discovered, the default value is abortion. That doesn’t please God, but it’s what people do when their minds and hearts are limited by the constraints of self-interest and reinforced by the pragmatic and narcissistic spirit of the age. Think like that over and over, and it will turn your conscience to mush before whatever you can rationalize as good or right for you, or whatever you might passionately desire.

The believer wants to have God’s priorities as his own, and the place to begin in discovering these is in the Law of God. Happily, God will meet us in this effort, giving us His Spirit (“face to shine”–Ezek. 39:29) so that not only can we understand the Law of God, but we will have the power to live it (Ezek. 36:26, 27). The harder we work at laying the priorities of God “in the bottom” of our souls (as the first Harvard motto had it), the better we will be able to filter our thoughts and purge our affections so that our minds and hearts are kept free of the taint of sin and mere self-interest.

Jesus Christ has set us free from the limiting constraints of our sinful consciences. We are free, in God’s Law, to pursue His priorities, and, when we do, we will find Him there, providing us the power of His Spirit to enable us to live His statutes unto righteousness, peace, and joy (Rom. 14:17,18).

Daily meditation in the Law of God helps us along the path of holiness, righteousness, and goodness (Rom. 7:12). Order your copy of The Law of God, a compilation of the Mosaic Law for contemporary believers, by going 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.