Day 185 "Loving God fulfills all law."

Day 185 Matthew 22:34-40 But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, saying, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” Having silenced His accusers in every other way, they now bring out the heavy hitter, the lawyer, one who is well-versed and educated in the law of the prophets–the basis of their religious beliefs (and ours, I might add). Surely, now they would be able to trip Him up. You see, they were seeking an answer which they could use against Jesus. They desired to trip Him up with the law of the Word yet, once again, He spoke with the Spirit of the Word. In a battle between the Spirit of the Word and the law of the Word, the Spirit will always win, for mankind has always failed to uphold the law. Why, you ask? Because the Spirit of the law is the backbone of the law; the Spirit of the law can exist without the law; however, the law cannot survive on its own. Let me explain. The law of the prophets, which began with the Ten Commandments, was put in place to guide the people of God. They couldn't keep the law so the law expanded to cover more areas; when those boundaries were breached, again, the law was forced to be expanded and so on and so on. Just look at our own government. We are continually adding new laws to keep people in line and to punish those who have missed the mark, and as long as people continue to attempt not to break the law, they will indeed do so; hence, requiring more laws. However, the Spirit of the law is very simple, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind" and "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." If mankind were to love God in the way we are told to do so, then consequently there would be no need for the law. If we love God to the degree we should, we would, indeed, love our neighbor. We would fulfill every law ever written because we would never desire to do anything to harm anyone else and, after all, by harming others, we are, indeed, harming God. Our cheating, lying, complaining, and envy of others are, in fact, acts against God more so than they are acts against those individuals; we are His creation, created in his image and loved by Him. Yes, this is a very simple solution in theory to all of the problems of the world. In these earthly tents, filled with earthly desires and under the influence of a demonic realm, it is nearly impossible to live such a life; however, that does not excuse us from constantly attempting to do so. Thank God for his grace and mercy, for I would much rather face the grace of a merciful God than the wrath of man backed by the law. Any doubts, look at what they did to Jesus. Yes, we truly are people who are under the law of the land; however, we have nothing to fear if we will but strive to fulfill the Spirit of the commandments that Jesus has mentioned here–to love our God! Daily Prayer: Father, for all time, after the fall, mankind has struggled with maintaining our place with You. Help me, Lord, to love You with all my heart, my soul, and my mind that I might be a light to a lost and hurting world. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen. "Loving God fulfills all law." Gene Burroughs, Pastor