But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.

  - James 1.25

For the law does not make one holy by hearing, but doubtless by performance; each should honour the Lord, not simply by words and bodily toil, but by ripeness of character and purity of heart.

  - Columbanus, Sermon II, Irish, 7th century[1]

Notice how these two quotations position hearing and doing the Law of God as a kind of fulcrum between knowing the blessing of God (James) and honoring Him with our lives (Columbanus).

Being blessed of God and honoring Him constitute a continuum in the same process, with obedience to the Law of God the active agent in each. We can’t honor God unless we know His blessing. We can’t be blessed apart from His Law.

We are blessed, having read and meditated in the Law, when we go forth to obey it in our everyday lives, thus honoring the Lord.

How does that work?

As we meditate on the Law, the Spirit teaches us (Ezek. 36.26, 27). He shows us the glory of God and convicts us of sin, righteousness, and judgment (2 Cor. 3.12-18; Jn. 16.8-11). He guides us into what is holy and righteous and good (Rom. 7.12). Thus He works within us to establish and nurture righteousness in our souls, and we know His blessing and presence as He does.

In thus blessing us, He wells up within us and overflows from us (Jn. 7.37-39) into the everyday words and deeds of our lives, so that we honor the Lord by living according to His will.

Being filled with Jesus (blessing) we go forth to fill all things with Him (honor).

Is this what you experience from your time with the Lord? Deep immersion in God’s Law? Listening for and responding to His Spirit? Being transformed and blessed? Then going forth to honor Him with your life?

This is what God intends for us. As we station ourselves over the fulcrum of God’s Law, we are lifted high in blessing; then the weight of that glory impels us to lift up honor to God in our Personal Mission Fields in all we say and do (1 Cor. 10.31).

How, then, can we possibly go wrong by making the reading and study of God’s Law an important part of our daily disciplines? The Law is the Law of liberty, as James says. It “liberates” us from slavery to sin into the power of God’s Spirit and the righteousness of Jesus Christ.

Surely that’s a good thing?

The only way we can fail to know the blessing of God or to bring honor to Him is by ignoring the Law of God, and that would be contrary to Scripture’s advice (cf. Pss. 1, 19, 119).

But isn’t this precisely where a great many of us are?

We hear the apostle telling us that the Law of liberty will set us free from everything that keeps us from the blessing of God, if only we will consider it carefully and obey it promptly. And we hear the greatest saint of the Celtic Christian period telling us that performing God’s Law will bring honor to the One Who has saved us by His grace.

This seems like pretty strong incentive for making time in God’s Law a daily priority.

The Law is not a burden to weigh us down (1 Jn. 5.1-3); rather, it is a standard to lift us up, as the Spirit of God meets us in the Law, teaches it to us, and enables us to carry out all that it requires (Phil. 2.13; Eph. 3.20).

We are lifted in blessing to delight in God and His Word, then we lift Him in honor by living that same Word before the people we see each day.

Great adventures in blessing, and in bringing honor to God, await us, if only we will take up the Law of God.

Psalm 119.171-176 (Regent Square: “Angels from the Realms of Glory”)
With our lips we praise You, Jesus, for you teach us, full and free.
Now Your Word will ever please us; Your commandments true shall be.
Let Your hand come forth to ease us; we Your word choose gratefully!

For Your saving grace we plead, Lord, and Your Law is our delight.
We to live and praise You need, Lord, all Your help by day and night.
Straying sheep, we do not heed, Lord; come and seek us by Your might!

Heavenly Father, help me to keep Christ’s commandments in all things, and let my life shine forth in bright deeds to the people around me. Adapted from Sechnall, Audite Omnes Amantes

The Law of God and You
Why do we emphasize the Law of God so much? Why do we offer a daily column, In the Gates, that deals with issues of the Law? Why do we publish books on the Law? Why do we keep “harping” on the Law?

Because of what James and Columbanus taught, as well as Jesus and Paul and David and Moses and all the prophets and apostles. The Law of God is the acorn to the oak of Scripture. If we choose to remain ignorant of the Law, we will be ignorant of Scripture to just that extent.

Jesus is filling the world with Himself, beginning with each one who believes and is filled with Him, His Spirit, and His Law. You can read about this yourself by downloading the free PDF study, To Fill All Things (just click here). To add daily meditation in the Law of God into your spiritual disciplines, order a copy of The Law of God from our online store (click here). Here are the commandments and statutes of God’s Law, arranged in order together, and ready for daily meditating. If you still need convincing as to why the Law matters, order The Ground for Christian Ethics. Here a case for the Law and its role in the life of faith is set forth in a dialog, with abundant Scriptural support.

Right now, ask yourself: Why is there so little love in the world? Then read Matthew 24.12.

Don’t let your love grow cold, friends. Take up the Law of God.

Psalms to Pray for Today and Tuesday
Today
Morning: Psalm 119.73-80; Psalm 106
Evening: Psalm 32

Tuesday
Morning: Psalm 119.81-88; Psalm 107
Evening: Psalm 33

T. M. Moore, Principal
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All Psalms for singing from The Ailbe Psalter. Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.