Living By Law

Note: The following article is taken from Ha'Shem magazine, Issue 21. While originally a "youth feature", it speaks to us all irrespective of how old we are.

We live in a tension-packed, emotional and fractured world. Because sin (which is disobedience to Yahweh's laws) is on the increase, men and women are bringing down upon themselves and their families an ever-increasing weight of judgement. You see, when Yahweh made His laws they were His loving way of providing for our good. When we live according to His law, things "go well" with us (see Deuteronomy 5:16) and when we don't, things don't.

Yahweh is not the big policeman in the sky, waiting to pounce on us the minute we do anything wrong. He is a loving Father Who cares for us. The laws which were set in motion at the beginning of creation caused the universe to work in order, and still operate today. And so do all the other laws Yahweh made.

To ignore His laws is not clever - it's stupid.The law of gravity says that if you drop something it will fall to the ground. Whether we believe that law or not, it works. Some folk will tell you that it's old fashioned to believe in Yahweh's laws and try to keep them. But you wouldn't think it was old fashioned to believe in the law of gravity if you were standing at the top of the Tower of London, would you? What makes us draw back from the top of a cliff, or the edge of a high building? The sure knowledge that the law of gravity works, of course! Do you know that every law Yahweh ever made STILL WORKS? And to ignore His laws will bring judgement upon us?

Yahweh wants us to be happy. His laws (all those "shalt nots") have only one aim...to KEEP us in the way of happiness. The principles and laws by which the universe operates had to be unbending. After all - it's a big place! When we sin we set in motion irrevocable forces; Yahweh isn't going to reset the universe just so that fire won't burn me - or you either. If I don't want to be burned I must stay out of the fire, and if I don't want to reap sin's harvest I must not break Yahweh's laws.

The law of sowing and reaping states that what I sow I shall reap. It generally means, too, that if I sow seed, I shall reap a harvest - not straight away, but in time, of course. By this beautiful law, made by a loving Father for the good of His children, we are fed and cared for year after year after year. But what happens if I sow an evil seed? The law remains! In the course of time I shall reap my harvest. Yahweh is not going to change the law simply because some people are sowing the wrong seeds! Remember the Scripture which says, "Be not deceived, Yahweh is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap" (Galatians 6:7). It's a bit scary when you think of it like that, isn't it?

Hundreds of thousands of people are rejecting Yahweh's moral laws as old fashioned and unnecessary. But are they? People today live in a fast, computerised, scientific age. Man has made tremendous technological progress, but do you know that every technological advance owes its existence to the discovery of, and precise obedience to, the unchanging, natural laws of the universe as made by Yahweh? Do you know that this most scientific of all ages has become that way because it is perfectly law abiding? This is a legal universe and without obedience to the natural laws there is - nothing! Huge buildings are erected by close attention to strict architectural laws. Aeroplanes are flown through a knowledge of the laws of aviation - but no pilot would dare say that the law of gravity is not effective up there beyond the clouds, for he knows it is!

So, we live, scientifically, in a most humble and obedient age - hence our progress! BUT in matters which govern our hearts, our lives and our spirits we live in a disobedient and rebellious time. Could this, perhaps, be the reason for some of the problems in our own lives? The apostle John says that Yahweh "...so loved the world, the He gave His only begotten Son..." (John 3:16) that you and I might not perish, that we might not reap the harvest that is due to us because of the evil seeds we have sown. When Yahweh sent Yahshua, He didn't change His mind about the law - He allowed the JUST REQUIREMENTS of the law to be fulfilled in the pain and punishment borne by Yahshua. Yahshua took onto Himself the full, legal demands of everything we set in motion.

What kind of a harvest are you reaping just now? Is it a harvest of joy and peace, contentment and satisfaction? Or is it a harvest of turmoil, confusion, bitterness, despair, strife, problems? The law of sowing and reaping guarantees unconditionally that no one ever gets away with anything at any time in any place. Have you sown seeds of resentment, criticism, bitterness, strife? What we sow we shall reap. If you have a recurring problem in your life it could be a harvest you are reaping. Ask Yahweh to show you what evil seed was sown to produce that harvest, and then go humbly to the One Who can uproot what you have planted.

Remember, Yahshua FULFILLED THE LAW at Calvary and because He took all its legal demands onto Himself we do not need to reap the full harvest of what we have sown. As we confess our sin and repent of it, so will we be thoroughly cleansed.

• SEARCH ARTICLES & THOUGHTS
  SEARCH

  RESET FORM

Read our latest thought for the week...The Living Word

New Audio Devotional

Audio Devotional Moments - April 2024
The Burning Light

Faith Mail - A Monthly Encouragement

Faith Mail April 2024
Behold Our Advocates