Pastor Joynt's Devotionals

Broken and the Blessed,Lent Day 7

DAY 7

ROMANS 3:9-20

 The law, for Christians, functions in three vital ways. First, it convicts us of our need for God. The law shows us how far we fall short of God’s goodness, and so it prepares our hearts for the love, mercy, and grace made available in and through Jesus. The law shows us our need for a Savior. It is in the old Latin phrase praeparatio evangelica, a preparation for the gospel. In this unique way, the law is salvific, removing any other route, save Jesus’ gospel, for inclusion into God’s family and His future.

Read Matthew  5.

Which law convicts you in this chapter?

FAMILY TIME:

Why do we follow family rules? Fear or punishment? Respect for parents? A desire to bless others?

Why do we follow God’s rules and directions?

Broken and the Blessed,Lent Day 6

DAY 6

MONDAY–MARCH 6, 2017

PSALM 119

Our culture is not very positive about the law, although we are famously litigious, instituting all manner of lawsuits. Notice in our Psalm the devotion, excitement, and admiration expressed for the gift of God’s law. Psalm 119 describes the joy of obeying, and the fascination of studying, God’s law. All kinds of words and images reinforce these sentiments. We are encouraged to “delight” in the law, to be “happy” in it, to long for it, revere it, love it, taste and discover its sweetness, and to see it as a lamp to our feet and light for our path. Wow! Often today, the law of God is mocked as outdated and culturally limited, or seen as an authoritarian abridgement of our sovereign individual freedom. What a startlingly different set of feelings and responses.

How many positive adjectives are used to describe the law in this very long Psalm?

How do you feel about God’s law?

FAMILY TIME:

Eat a piece of honey toast or a peanut butter and honey sandwich.

Discuss what is sweet about God’s law.