May
22
Picture Perfect
Filed Under Daily Devotions
SCRIPTURE: 1 Kings 8; 2 Chronicles 5; Psalm 99; Romans 3
Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin. ~ Romans 3:20
OBSERVATION:
Paul is explaining that the point of the law is not to get us right with God, but to show us how much we need God.
APPLICATION:
One of the biggest misconceptions of Christianity is that one may believe if they’re a good person who keeps the Commandments, they’re a Christian. But that’s not the purpose of the the law of the Old Testament. This was something I struggled with a wee bit. If Christ died for us, and our acceptance of Him as our Savior is the basis of our salvation, then why the law in the first place?
I finally got a video camera to tape my athletes, so they can see what they’re doing in the air (I coach the pole vault). When they see themselves, they are able to see their mistakes and have a better understanding of what I’m talking about (and so they realize I’m not making things up). But what if we didn’t know what a good vault looked like? What if we had nothing to compare it to? We may think we’re fine and have nothing to change. We’d keep going on as we are with the possibility to get better. But by knowing what a good vault looks like, we know what to fix.
That is the purpose of the law. The law is to show us that picture of perfection – show us what we need to strive to achieve.
PRAYER:
Thank you, Father, for allowing us to have the knowledge of the law and that we’re able to see what to strive for. And thank you for Your Son’s death, for without Him, I could never make it to You.