Law Upon Law

Jesus replied, "And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them." (Luke 11:46 NIV)

We are in the midst of primary elections around the county. These elections include offices all the way from local community offices to Federal positions. To a certain degree we will be electing leaders to make important decisions for us based on a bit of fake news; a lot of bitter back-biting; nasty, nasty attacks on the opponents. Who can tell which law-makers are best for the positions? As they make decisions they will either instigate, legislate, or enforce new laws stacked upon the old laws supposedly for the sake of justice; for doing what is best for the people. Too often these decisions will be made based on what lobbyists want for themselves or their specific business or cause and not what is actually good for communities or the country as a whole. Egos and greed seem to rule the day.

Unfortunately, John Adams appears to have been perfectly correct when he stated, "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." We have an outstanding constitution in this country. However, there are some who think that it should be done away with or at the least drastically changed. They consider it archaic. For an unrighteous nation who needs law upon law to live; maybe it is inadequate. So do we do away with the constitution or do we, as a nation, decide to attempt to live by the righteousness of Christ rather than trusting in these multitudes of laws that we have created to serve justice? For those who believe that Jesus is the ultimate sacrifice for our sins the law has been put into our hearts and written upon our minds. St. Paul wrote to the Hebrews (10:15-16)  

The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says:

   “This is the covenant I will make with them

   after that time, says the Lord.
   I will put my laws in their hearts,

   and I will write them on their minds.” 

If this would be true for the world, we would have no need for the cost of making law upon law in every corner of the world and the burden that comes about because of these countless laws.

Jesus condemned the teachers of the law, the Pharisees, for loading people down with laws that they could hardly keep. The law that God gave to Moses was not enough. They and we seem to have to add to the laws; to micro-manage society.

It is difficult to keep the law when there are so many that one cannot even know what they all are. I am not just talking about traffic or criminal laws. I am also considering all the laws, the red-tape that comes with daily living; red-tape that goes with building a new home; running a family business; even purchasing insurance. Yes, you have to have all your ducks in a row to even file a claim on insurance you may have been paying on for years. The average person is just trying to earn a living and to live life. But, the burdens that come with so much red-tape take up much of the time that we would otherwise have to live life.

There are way too many rules and regulations to follow. Who can know them all? Sadly, that is the price we pay for living in an unrighteous world. Justice will not happen by making more laws in a lawless world. Justice will only happen when the law and the love of God is written upon our hearts.

God's Peace – Pr. J