The Law of Liberty (35)

 “For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.” Matthew 5.18

Everybody wants to think that his or her life matters. Only the fool tries to build a lifestyle on fleeting fancies, frivolous endeavors, and movements of whim. Most people, I suspect, would like to feel that what they’re doing in life will be of lasting value beyond their lives. They want to leave a meaningful legacy for the generations to come.

Thus, many people live in the fear that such a way of life will elude them. How can they ever do something that “really matters”? How can their little lives be truly significant and have lasting value? Such thoughts leave many people depressed, even fearful, for they rather suspect that, in fact, they’re really just nobodies, after all.

The Law of God frees us from this, because the Law of God will be around until everything has been accomplished and the new heavens and new earth have been attained. The Law of God is permanent, and of permanent value. They who learn it and keep it, therefore, contribute to the permanent manifestation of love for God and neighbor in their generation and beyond.

What could be more significant, or more lasting, than to give ourselves to loving God and neighbors? The Law of God equips and enables us to this task; therefore, when we take up study and obedience to God’s Law, we embark on a way of life that has true and lasting significance. Thus, again, the Law shows itself to be, indeed, the Law of liberty, freeing us from the fear of irrelevance and insignificance.

No wonder the psalmist cried with such joy about reading and studying the Law of God (Ps. 119.97)! We can know that same joy as well, by making reading, study, meditation, and obedience to the Law of God part of our daily regimen of spiritual disciplines in the Lord.

Order your copy of The Law of God, a compilation of the Mosaic Law for contemporary believers, and The Ground for Christian Ethics, by T. M.