Sharks!

Father, thank You for the blessings of this day. A slated day off but it’s been a relatively relaxed day and I have gotten so much done – a home project and a good head start on things for Sunday. Bless our time together for Your glory. Amen.

Romans 7:7-13 (<<click here to read the passage)

Have you seen the Toddler Temptation Challenge videos? A tasty treat is set before a young child and mom says she’ll be back in just a couple of minutes. The thing is the child isn’t allowed to touch or eat it until she gets back. Sometimes children do as they’re told and other times they dive right in!

Many times, even as adults, it’s a greater temptation to not yield when someone tells us not to snoop or not to go into a certain room or whatever. If they’d never said anything about it, then it probably wouldn’t have even entered our minds to check it out. But tell us NOT to and that’s all we seem to be able to think about!

God’s Law is like that. Even pre-Ten Commandments, Adam and Eve failed their temptation challenge. This is how it went.

…the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” Genesis 2:16-17 NLT

Of course, the serpent twisted God’s words, then Eve added to God’s words and before it was all over, Eve sinned, Adam sinned…and now we’re all sinners…

All they had to do was say “no” and turn their attention to all that they could enjoy – which was everything else! – but nope they did what we all do and did the thing they weren’t supposed to do!

My Life Application Study Bible goes a little further. If we don’t know we’re not to do something (the Law) then we don’t sin, because we don’t think about it and we don’t do it. Our “flesh” – our sin nature – is drawn to all we should avoid…and there’s lots more than just one thing to avoid now!

When Adam and Eve yielded, they didn’t die immediately but they did eventually. In God’s original plan, they may never have died. But they sinned and the penalty was death. It is the same for us.

The Law is not wrong or evil, but it does what it’s supposed to do, it points out the wrong. It points out the sin. But the thing is, that’s all it does, it offers no way out of our condemnation. Or course, that’s where Jesus gloriously factors in.

But before we leave this post, we need to address our response to the Law.

My study Bible states,

Sin is real, and it is dangerous. Imagine a sunny day at the beach. You plunge into the surf, then you notice a sign on the pier: “No swimming. Sharks.” Your day is ruined. Is it the sign’s fault? Are you angry with the people who put it up? The law is like the sign. It is essential and we are grateful for it – but it doesn’t get rid of the sharks.

Be on guard. Jesus is the only one qualified to serve as our Lifeguard. If you’ve not done so, give your life over to Him. If you’re not sure how to do that, reach out to me. I’ll gladly show you how to find him!

Jan 16^th, 2023, Mon, 4:24 pm