Memory
Scripture of the Week ~
For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God's glorious
standard. Romans 3:23
Everyone sins
and everyone has sinned. What is sin to you? Is it sin to run a red light when
driving? Is it sin to not tithe at church? Is it sin to wear mismatching socks?
God gave Moses the Ten Commandments for the Israelites. Those are still
relevant today and can be summed up…as Jesus said by two succinct statements.
"'You
must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your
mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally
important: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' The entire law and all the demands
of the prophets are based on these two commandments." Matthew
22:37-40
Can we meet
God’s requirements…totally living up to His Commandments? How do we “love God
with all of our heart, soul and mind” and how do we “love our neighbor as yourself”
or can we even do these things? Putting God first…does that mean not collecting
stuff, idolizing our TV programs or sports teams? Loving our neighbor…does that
include shoveling their sidewalks in this snowy winter weather when we’d rather
be sitting indoors with a warm cup of hot chocolate? We have to decide for
ourselves how we are to “obey” God, spiritually.
Adam and Eve
didn’t have God’s law or Commandments, but they had God’s direction—don’t eat
of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil—and a choice…to obey or not. They
chose to not obey. Throughout time people have questioned…why? I guess it was
simply their prerogative. They probably didn’t have many serious choices to
make up until then. Just whether to have a tomato or avocado for supper. Paul
gives an interesting discourse in the selection below from his letter to the
church at Rome. Note that there wasn’t a law to break there, yet there was sin before
God gave the law to Moses for the Hebrew people,
When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam's sin
brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. Yes, people
sinned even before the law was given. But it was not counted as sin because
there was not yet any law to break. Still, everyone died—from the time of Adam
to the time of Moses—even those who did not disobey an explicit commandment of
God, as Adam did. Now Adam is a symbol, a representation of Christ, who was yet
to come. But there is a great difference between Adam's sin and God's gracious
gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even
greater is God's wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through
this other man, Jesus Christ. Romans 5:12-15
For everyone has
sinned; we all fall short of God's glorious standard. There it is. What can
we do about it? God has a plan that included sending His Son, Jesus, to save us…redeem
us…from this predicament of sin that Adam and Eve got us into. By the choice of
accepting Jesus as the sacrifice for our sin, we can enter into God grace and
perfect will for our lives. That allows us to reach God’s glorious standard.
Holiness to stand before Him—as He sits on His throne in Heaven. What is your
choice…hour by hour…day by day?
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| Hiking Trail - near Parker, Arizona. Is this the "right" path? Show me the right Path, Lord. |
Prayer
~ Lord God, I give my life to you. I trust in you, my God!
Show me the right path, O LORD; point out
the road for me to follow.
Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you
are the God who saves me.
All day long I put my hope in you.
Remember, O LORD, your compassion and
unfailing love, which you have shown from long ages past.
Do not remember the rebellious sins of my
youth. Remember me in the light of your unfailing love, for you are merciful, O
LORD.
The LORD is good and does what is right; he
shows the proper path to those who go astray. He leads the humble in doing
right, teaching them his way.
The LORD leads with unfailing love and faithfulness
all who keep his covenant and obey his demands. Psalm 25:4-10
May we live a holy life before You—pleasing You in all that we think,
say and do.
Daily
Bible Reading: Leviticus 19-21
© 2019 Text and
Photos by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.
All
scripture quoted from the New Living Translation (NLT) unless otherwise noted.
www.blueletterbible.org/dailyreading
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