Evangelist Fred Brown used three illustrations to explain the proper use of God’s law. First, he likened the law to a dentist’s mirror. With that little mirror he can spot cavities. But the dentist doesn’t drill with the mirror. The mirror can reveal a cavity, but it can never repair it.

Brown then compared the law to a flashlight. If the lights in your home suddenly go out, you use a flashlight to guide you through the darkness to the electrical box. The flashlight enables you to see the blown fuse or tripped circuit-breaker, but you don’t insert the flashlight in its place.

In his third image, Brown likened the law to a plumb-line. A builder uses a weighted string to see if his work is properly aligned. If he discovers a mistake, he doesn’t use the plumb-line to correct it. He uses his hammer and saw.

The Apostle Paul said, “We know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully” (1 Timothy 1:8). The law of God reveals the problem of sin, but it doesn’t provide a solution. The answer to the sin problem is Jesus Christ, Who bore our guilt on the cross, and now offers us new life. Have you asked Him to be your Savior?

Tags: Law, sin

The tale is told of Boudreaux, out on the bayou, fishing by dropping sticks of dynamite over the side, waiting for the “boom” and scooping the fish out with a net. After he’s done this four or five times, the game warden came out and said, “Boudreaux, you know you ain’t supposed to be fishin’ that way.”

Boudreaux paid him no mind. Lighting up another stick of dynamite, he handed it to the game warden and said, “You gonna talk or you gonna fish?”

Some folks are always trying to find a way around the rules. Rules are made for a reason, and if everyone violated the rules, there would be chaos. That’s why our prisons are overcrowded. And, why is it that in a land famous for freedom, America has more people incarcerated per capita than any other nation on earth? Should there be limits on freedom? What do you think?

Tags: fishing, humor, Law

During his years as mayor of New York City, Fiorello La Guardia sometimes presided as judge in a night court. In one case, a man was found guilty of stealing a loaf of bread. He pleaded that he had committed that theft to feed his starving family.

“The law is the law,” La Guardia declared. “I must therefore fine you $10.” When the man sadly confessed that he had no money, the judge took $10 out of his wallet and paid the fine. He also asked each person in the courtroom to contribute 50 cents to help the man.

Have you ever seen such generosity in your world?

Tags: grace, judgment, Law, stealing

“On the tenth day of Christmas my True Love sent to me: Ten Lords a Leaping“.

Ten Lords a Leaping speak of the Ten Commandments given by God through Moses to the Israelites. These ten basic commandments encapsulate the entire Mosaic Law, which consists of hundreds of thou shalts and shalt nots. We are not saved by obeying the Ten Commandments. As a matter of fact, the Ten Commandments were given to the Jews in the Old Covenant, not Christians under a New Covenant. But they symbolize the will of God for His people even today.

In the New Covenant (Christianity), God knows we are sinners but Jesus’ death on the cross covered that sin and God does not hold us accountable for that sin. That’s why Paul said we are saved by grace, not of works, lest anyone should boast of earning his/her salvation. But spiritual people should seek to discover the will of God for our lives so we can live a life that honors God. Its not a Command, then, for believers, but the Ten Commandments become the desire our our hearts. They become Lords of our behavior, leaping over all the obstacles to godliness: Ten Lords a Leaping.

Tags: Law, Ten Commandments