Breaking the Law

Think about the last time you broke a rule (a big one, not just ripping the tags off your pillows).  Were you burned, or did things turn out for the best?

 

I have a problem with this prompt!  I don't like the assumption it implies.  It doesn't ask, "have you ever broken a big rule?"  The question assumes we all break laws.  I'll confess to driving too fast on occasion. My most recent ticket (I think about five years ago) was for being in the carpool lane on a freeway on-ramp.  Unfortunately, I didn't realize it was "carpool only" at the time - the meter came on just minutes before I got in that lane and there was no way for me to move out of it.  A costly mistake, but not one I did intentionally.

I wrote a post called "Jane Eyre and Temptation" back in 2011 that fits this topic:

 

Of course one of the most powerful scenes is when Jane and Mr. Rochester are to be married. The wedding is interrupted and we finally meet Mr. Rochester's lunatic wife. Mr. Rochester then tries to convince Jane to run away with him. Here are Jane's thoughts:

This was true: and while he spoke my very conscience and reason turned traitors against me, and charged me with crime in resisting him. They spoke almost as loud as Feeling: and that clamoured wildly. “Oh, comply!” it said. “Think of his misery; think of his danger—look at his state when left alone; remember his headlong nature; consider the recklessness following on despair—soothe him; save him; love him; tell him you love him and will be his. Who in the world cares for you? or who will be injured by what you do?”

Still indomitable was the reply—“I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself. I will keep the law given by God; sanctioned by man. I will hold to the principles received by me when I was sane, and not mad—as I am now. Laws and principles are not for the times when there is no temptation: they are for such moments as this, when body and soul rise in mutiny against their rigour; stringent are they; inviolate they shall be. If at my individual convenience I might break them, what would be their worth? They have a worth—so I have always believed; and if I cannot believe it now, it is because I am insane—quite insane: with my veins running fire, and my heart beating faster than I can count its throbs. Preconceived opinions, foregone determinations, are all I have at this hour to stand by: there I plant my foot.”

Jane Eyre was published in 1847, but those words about temptation I find relevant today. How often we humans try to rationalize our breaking of the God's laws. "Think of his misery." As if choosing to comfort Mr. Rochester would have been justification for breaking God's laws. "Laws and principles are not for the times when there is no temptation: they are for such moments as this..."

 

And for the record, the tags are still on our pillows...

The Way of Man

My Bible reading the past couple weeks has been in Jeremiah.  Chapter 10 verse 23 says, "O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps." The Message puts is this way:  "I know, God, that mere mortals can’t run their own lives, That men and women don’t have what it takes to take charge of life."

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible says about this passage:

"I know, O Lord, that not for man is his way" (d); his own way is not good for him; not his sinful way, for this is opposite to God's way, and a going out of it; it is not according to his word; it is after the course of the world; and it is a dark and crooked way, and leads to, and ends in, destruction and death, if grace prevent not: nor the way of his own righteousness; this is no way of access to God, no way of acceptance with him, no way of justification before him, no way of salvation, no way to heaven, and eternal happiness; that which is the good and right way, the only way of salvation, is not of man, in him, or with him naturally; it is not of his devising and contriving, and much less of his effecting; it is not even within his knowledge; and so far as he knows anything of it, he does not approve of it: but it is of God; the scheme of it is of his forming; it is a work wrought out by Christ; it is a way of salvation revealed in the Gospel; and the thing itself is savingly made known, and applied by the Spirit of God; all which is known and owned when men are spiritually enlightened:
It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps; as not in natural and civil things, much less in religious ones; a good man is one that "walks", which supposes life and strength, without which there can be no walking; and a progression, a going on in a way; which ways are Christ, and his ordinances the path of doctrine and of duty; yet it is not even in this good man "to direct" and order "his steps" of himself; it is the Lord that must do it, and does; he can take no step aright without him; he is guided by him and his Spirit, both in the path of truth and of obedience; and hence it is that the saints persevere."

I remember a message from probably 30 years ago.  Bro. Murrell Ewing preached from this verse, his emphasis was on our need for God to direct our steps - that when He directs us, our life will be beautiful.  But I've been thinking lately just how bad it is when men and women do not let God be their guide.  Our country, our world, has tried to run their own lives and we can see the results everyday in the news.

My devotion this morning was A Rock in the Sea of Amnesia by Dr. Ed Young:

Writer Tom Wolfe summed up the amoral climate of the 1970's with a personal story. Wolfe told of visiting a major university with his friend Harris, whose daughter Laura was a student there. They found her dorm, went to the room, knocked on the door, and finding it unlocked, walked inside. The room was dark, and a boy and girl were in bed together.
Wolfe said that he and Harris backed out of the room as if they'd been looking down the throat of a snake. His friend, visibly shaken, said "I'm sure that's Laura's room - but that was not my daughter." The two men asked around, and found Harris' daughter in the library. He began to tell her what he'd seen, but before he got far she interrupted him: "Oh, daddy, don't be such an old fogey. Two days a month everybody's room is a free room. So, we just go to the library or something during that time."
Wolfe said Harris didn't accept that explanation, and began to argue with his daughter that such behavior was wrong. But by the time the visit was over, and Harris and Wolfe had driven back to the city, Harris had reconciled himself to this "new morality." Before long, he neither spoke of it, nor remembered his outrage. "It got lost," Wolfe said, "like a rock in a sea of amnesia."
We live in the age of the beer-commercial philosophy: "You only go through life once - live it with all the gusto you can." Some say our culture is immoral, but I do not believe that. For a culture to be considered immoral presumes some widely-accepted standard of morality - and we have none. This is the age of "anything goes," where truth is considered relative, and where "right" is "what's right for me - right now."
Biblical, Judeo-Christian morality has been lost, like a rock in a sea of amnesia. No one blushes any more because no one needs to. Virtually any behavior or "lifestyle" is accepted in the name of tolerance. Our standards have changed, or disappeared altogether. But God's standards have not changed even one iota. They are timeless, immutable and true. And one day, every man, woman and child will be judged by them. Have we ever needed Jesus more than we do today?

Most agree that the same prophet, Jeremiah, wrote the book of Lamentations.  Its purpose was to express despair and teach God’s people that disobedience to the Lord results in immense suffering and distress.  But in the middle of these laments, we find hope.  "It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness." (verses 22-23)  "For the Lord will not cast off for ever:  But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies." (verses 31-32)  Those things happen when we "search and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord.  Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens." (verses 40-41)

We see sin on the rise from every direction but, "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."  (2 Chronicles 7:14)

The Whole Duty of Man

I finished reading the book of Ecclesiastes this morning.  Chapter 12 verse 13 says, "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man."  It's so simple.  Fear God and keep His commandments.  We can make it so difficult.  Fear God and keep His commandments.

Matthew Henry put it this way: 

The root of religion is fear of God reigning in the heart, and a reverence of his majesty, a deference to his authority, and a dread of his wrath. Fear God, that is, worship God, give him the honour due to his name, in all the instances of true devotion, inward and outward. The rule of religion is the law of God revealed in the scriptures. Our fear towards God must be taught by his commandments, and those we must keep and carefully observe. Wherever the fear of God is uppermost in the heart, there will be a respect to all his commandments and care to keep them. In vain do we pretend to fear God if we do not make conscience of our duty to him.

USA Today had a story this morning about six women who were born in the 19th century and are still living today (here.)  The oldest was born on March 5, 1898.  Each had tips for living long lives.  Gertrude Weaver is the oldest American.  Here's what she had to say:

So how has she lived so long? "Kindness," she told Time. "Treat people right and be nice to other people the way you want them to be nice to you."
And strong religious beliefs. "You have to follow God. Don't follow anyone else," she told the local Camden News. "Be obedient and follow the laws and don't worry about anything. I've followed him for many, many years and I ain't tired."

So there it is, from 116 year old Gertrude Weaver, "Follow God, be obedient and follow the laws."  Sounds a lot like "Fear God and keep His commandments"  doesn't it?

The Cost of Complaining

The past few days my Bible reading has been in the book of Numbers.  God takes complaining very seriously:

In chapter 11, verse 1 "And when the people complained, it displeased the Lord: and the Lord heard it; and his anger was kindled; and the fire of the Lord burnt among them, and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp."  Just three verses later ~ "And the mixt multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat?   We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick:  But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes."  Verses 11-14, Moses has grown weary of the whining and finally says in verse 14, "I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me."  At the end of the chapter, the Lord sent quail in abundance.  "And while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord smote the people with a very great plague."

In chapter 12 we find Aaron and Miriam complaining about Moses. "Hath the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses? hath he not spoken also by us?"   And the Lord heard it.  "Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth." God dealt with Aaron and Miriam, sending leprosy on Miriam, causing her to spend seven days outside the camp.

In chapter 13 Moses sent out the 12 spies.  Caleb and Joshua did their best to encourage the people to go forth and conquer, but "the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.  And they brought up an evil report of the land."  The Lord slew the ten spies that brought the evil report.

In chapter 14, the entire nation wept and " murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness!"  God is ready to kill the entire nation, but Moses intercedes. It is then that they are told they will not enter into the promise land, but wander in the wilderness for 40 years and die there.

In chapter 16, Korah, Dathan, and Abiram with 250 men "gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the Lord?"  The ground opened up and Korah and his companions and their families "went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them."   "And there came out a fire from the Lord, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense."  Verse 41 tells us, "But on the morrow all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the people of the Lord."  A plague was sent that killed 14,700.

I have read all of these stories in recent days and this is just a small sampling of what Moses endured.  Some people never learn!  Over and over the people murmured and were punished.  I wonder, would I have survived these murmurings?  Would I have been slain by a plague, swallowed up by the earth, or consumed with fire?  It's a sobering thought.  I want my heart to be right with God and my pastor and those in leadership.  God didn't take it lightly thousands of years ago, I don't believe He takes it lightly today.

Complaining, murmuring, and criticizing are highly contagious.  Korah didn't get swallowed up alone.  I wonder how many days and how many people he talked to before he had gathered 250 men and his courage to confront Moses.  This is a powerful saying:

  

"Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer."  Psalm 19:14

Jane Eyre and Temptation

Les got me a Kindle for my birthday and I am enjoying it immensely! One of the greatest features is being able to download many Classics for free. I have Little Women, Pride and Prejudice, Uncle Tom's Cabin, and many others.

I finished rereading Jane Eyre this week. I was in Junior High when I read this, so I didn't remember many details. It was like a new book. It is so well written. The characters are fascinating, with dialogue you don't find in books today.

Of course one of the most powerful scenes is when Jane and Mr. Rochester are to be married. The wedding is interrupted and we finally meet Mr. Rochester's lunatic wife. Mr. Rochester then tries to convince Jane to run away with him. Here are Jane's thoughts:

This was true: and while he spoke my very conscience and reason turned traitors against me, and charged me with crime in resisting him. They spoke almost as loud as Feeling: and that clamoured wildly. “Oh, comply!” it said. “Think of his misery; think of his danger—look at his state when left alone; remember his headlong nature; consider the recklessness following on despair—soothe him; save him; love him; tell him you love him and will be his. Who in the world cares for you? or who will be injured by what you do?”

Still indomitable was the reply—“I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself. I will keep the law given by God; sanctioned by man. I will hold to the principles received by me when I was sane, and not mad—as I am now. Laws and principles are not for the times when there is no temptation: they are for such moments as this, when body and soul rise in mutiny against their rigour; stringent are they; inviolate they shall be. If at my individual convenience I might break them, what would be their worth? They have a worth—so I have always believed; and if I cannot believe it now, it is because I am insane—quite insane: with my veins running fire, and my heart beating faster than I can count its throbs. Preconceived opinions, foregone determinations, are all I have at this hour to stand by: there I plant my foot.”

Jane Eyre was published in 1847, but those words about temptation I find relevant today. How often we humans try to rationalize our breaking of the God's laws. "Think of his misery." As if choosing to comfort Mr. Rochester would have been justification for breaking God's laws. "Laws and principles are not for the times when there is no temptation: they are for such moments as this..."

If you've never read Jane Eyre, find it at your local library. It's not light and easy reading, but it will be worth your while.