Law and Love 101

7/11/2009

Hebrews 8:9 9 Not like the covenant which I made with their fathers On the day when I took them by the hand To lead them out of the land of Egypt;

For they did not continue in My covenant, And I did not care for them, says the Lord. New American Standard Bible

Again this morning, like the brilliance of the sun cresting the horizon, the Scripture makes a glorious statement of encouragement and promise: “for they did not continue in My covenant and I did not care for them…” Massive, brilliant, glorious! The fault was with them and not with God. Why!? Because the first covenant was too much for them – they couldn’t handle it. And that is exactly what God intended.

God never intended for our relationship with Him to be written on tablets of stone; He always meant for us to be friends and to walk with us in loving fellowship in the cool of the day. Law 101 was intended to show the justice and fury and authority of God; Love 101, a better covenant was intended to show us His heart, His love and His affection; and to share His heart with our own.

I was never born under the Levitical Law. I am a Gentile by birth but I am under grace and the promise of a Savior, Jesus Christ the Lord. I am not accountable to law but to love and because of that, I am able to live caring about what God cares about and behave accordingly. I live under a new Covenant where the love of God is inked in blood upon my heart and He is my God and I am His child.

Father in Heaven,

“If that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second.” How grateful I am for the Second Covenant and for Your law written in love upon my heart. Help me this day to love You more and walk in love with You. Help me to share Your love with others and to help them see who You really are. Thank You for the New Covenant and for the better promises that are mine in Jesus Christ – I pray in His Name, amen.