Follow What The Lord Says, Even Over What Men May Direct
Word-Of-The-Day: ‘(97) Oh, how I love Your law! I meditate on it all day long. (98) Your commands are always with me and make me wiser than my enemies. (99) I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on Your statutes. (100) I have more understanding than the elders, for I obey Your precepts. (101) I have kept my feet from every evil path so that I might obey Your word. (102) I have not departed from Your laws, for You Yourself have taught me. (103) How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! (104) I gain understanding from Your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path.’ (Psalm 119:97-104)
It is said the US Justice Code, along with each state’s criminal codes, is so convoluted that any person may be found guilty of breaking one of the myriad of crimes that are on the books. The quote ‘Show me the man and I’ll show you the crime’ is attributed to the former Soviet Deputy Premier and State Police Chief Lavrentiy Beria, who expanded the gulags or dissident internment camps across Russia under the regime of Josef Stalin. It was meant to demonstrate that any person could be brought to trial and a law could be found and interpreted in such a way as to determine that person broke the law.
Unfortunately we see this in our justice system today; it is two-tiered, and we often see those who have clearly broken the law escape justice while those who have been keeping their nose down and working to support their families, who find the need to speak up against unjust or immoral behavior (like those who speak at school board or city planning meetings) are investigated or even arrested for simply stating what they believe to be true.
To live in today’s ‘Rule of Law’, it appears that the Christian, in the secular sense, must not speak truthfully and maintain a feckless existence unless they risk harassment, investigation, or even arrest and imprisonment. However, this also means not to follow the commands of Jesus, to be Truthful and to be bold for the advancement of the Gospel.
How can one today keep the Rule of Law, and continue to live for Christ? Buried in Psalm 119, the longest ‘chapter’ in the Bible with 176 verses (covering the Hebrew alphabet), under the letter ‘Mem’, are these verses that talk about loving the Law, particularly God’s Law. If you want to gain God’s viewpoint on anything – medical, politics, business, life in general – read God’s Word and pray to Him. If you want God’s advice or counsel on anything, read God’s Word and pray to Him. When we study God’s Word, we gain wisdom and understanding in how to handle situations, how to interact with folks, even how to vote for a particular election.
To be in the will of Christ and to obey Him may mean to take risks within the secular construct, to speak the Truth and to stand up to injustice – even if that means injustice falls upon yourself. The Founding Fathers understood the risk to themselves and their families when they confronted the immorality of the British crown upon the American colonies, and for many that risk was proven to be valid as either they, their families, or both were jailed and executed. In Acts 6 and 7, Stephen spoke out on the glory of Jesus as the Christ, or Messiah, and ended up on trial in front of the Sanhedrin (the Jewish religious governance board), and then stoned to death. Even during his stoning, Stephen did not back down from His Faith.
We all come into and out of difficulties throughout life. We all are faced with current events, and God will not always stop every ‘negative’ event, as there will be communities that flood, tornadoes tearing through the lands. Wars and protests are happening throughout the world, and He may not stop the ‘nuking’ of one of our big cities should the current events take a turn for the worst. Those negative events may also occur against us individually. We may face persecution for speaking the Truth, from being publicly shunned and shamed, to being falsely accused, and even imprisoned and executed.
On an individual level, we can influence events through Jesus, especially those who need to hear about Jesus, and see an example of what Faith in Christ can provide. We can learn to steer away from that which we find un-Godly or not uplifting to God. This can bring about change. How many, in seeing our steadfast Faith of Stephen came to be bold enough to accept Jesus? How many became bold enough to stand up to British tyranny when seeing the Faith of the Founders? We need to be True, bold and Faithful for the cause of Christ, even if it brings secular injustice upon us it will bring us Spiritual Justice.
Can we, with God, make ‘the Rule of Law’ reflect justice once again? With Faith, and with God, yes! We can yet in Faith turn our nation back into God’s hands. It will take all of us, and especially it will take Jesus to revive our Spirit in serving Him. We do need to BE PREPARED, BE AWARE, and PLAN ACCORDINGLY, but we also need to study His Word, pray to our Lord, and continue to fellowship with other who have Faith.
