Read Deuteronomy 6:1-6. Leviticus 19:1-18
After Dunkirk, in the Second World War, there was a tendency to look for someone to blame for the disaster which had befallen the Allied forces, and there were many who wished to enter into bitter recriminations with those who had guided things in the past. At that time Winston Churchill said a very wise thing: “If we open a quarrel between the past and the present, we shall find that we have lost the future.”
There had to be the Law before the Gospel could come. Men had to learn the difference between right and wrong; men had to learn their own human inability to cope with the demands of the law, and to respond to the commands of God; men had to learn a sense of sin and unworthiness and inadequacy. Men blame the past for many things—and often rightly—but it is equally, and even more, necessary to acknowledge our debt to the past. As Jesus saw it, it is man’s duty neither to forget nor to attempt to destroy the past, but to build upon the foundation of the past. We have entered into other men’s labors, and we must so labor that other men will enter into ours.
In Matthew 5:17-20 Jesus definitely warns men not to think that Christianity is easy. Men might say, “Christ is the end or fulfillment of the law; now I can do what I like.” Men might think that all the duties, all the responsibilities, all the demands are gone. But it is Jesus’ warning that the righteousness of the Christian must exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees. But what
did he mean by that?
The motive under which the Scribes and Pharisees lived was the motive of law; their one aim and desire was to satisfy the demands of the Law. Now, at least theoretically, it is perfectly possible to satisfy the demands of the law; in once sense there can come a time when a man can say, “I have done all that the law demands; my duty is discharged; the law has no more claim on me.” Be game and read Philippians 3:3-6 if you’re having trouble digesting this. I dare you.
But the motive under which the Christian lives is the motive of love; the Christian’s one desire is to show his wondering gratitude for the love with which God had loved him in Jesus Christ. Now, it is not even theoretically possible to satisfy the claims of love. If we love someone with all our hearts, we are bound to feel that if we gave them a lifetime’s service and adoration, if we offered them the sun and the moon and the stars, we would still not have offered enough. For love, the whole realm of nature is an offering far too small.
The Jew aimed to satisfy the law of God; and to the demands of law there is always a limit. The Christian aims to show his gratitude for the love of God; and to the claims of love there is no limit in time or in eternity. Jesus set before men, not the law of God, but the love of God. Long ago Augustine said that the Christian life could be summed up in the one phrase: “Love God, and do what you like.” But when we realize how God has loved us, the one desire of life is to answer to that love, and that is the greatest task in all the world, for it presents a man with a task the like of which the man who thinks in terms of law never dreams of, and with an obligation more binding than the obligation to any law.
If you think it’s easy to love, try loving 3 people selflessly at church tomorrow and see how you go!
Prayer:
Write down your prayer points in the space provided. Use today’s reading to help you get ideas.
Adoration:
Confession:
Thanks:
Supplication:
¥ Pray that both you and your congregation would be ruled and guided and motivated by the love of God. Pray that there would be a growth in understanding, feeling and enjoying the love of God among the people in your church. Pray that those who are hard hearted and miserable will find the love of Christ and the joy that follows.
¥ Pray that this love of God in Christ would be shared with the wider community and that we would see the congregation grow dramatically as more and more people repent and trust in Christ for their salvation.
Discussion Questions For Families and Groups
1. Can law and love live together? Discuss.
2. Does the presence of the law promote or destroy love?
3. How does your society/culture show love? How does this differ from Christian love?
4. How can you show love to 3 people at church tomorrow?
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