Walk Of Life – Day 20 March 2022 – March With The Words Of Jesus Christ
March to practice what you preach
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:17-20
The Law of God given to Jews through Moses were set of rules for a perfect living on earth. But from Old Testament times we see that the Law has been manipulated by the priests. God warned the leaders about judging for money, priests about teaching for a price and prophets about telling fortunes for money through Prophet Micah. In the same way the Pharisees infiltrated the Law with their own ideas and mislead the people to make themselves rich and fill temple treasuries. On one occasion when the Pharisees pointed about Lord Jesus’s disciples not following ceremonial cleaning of hands before eating, He rebuked the Pharisees on how they have misled the people from following the commandments of honoring their parents if they would give money for temple activities. HE also overturned the tables of the sellers in the temple and drove them out on another occasion.
Lord Jesus obeyed the Law and set us an example to practice everything that is required from it. He took baptism from John the Baptist, followed Passover rituals and practiced everything that was required by the Law. By living a perfect life He fulfilled the moral laws and through his sacrificial death he fulfilled the ceremonial laws. The very existence of Christ was to fulfill the Old covenant made by God to the Jews and to establish a new covenant with the Jews as well as with the Gentiles who would be redeemed by the precious blood of Christ. All the ceremonies, sacrifices and other elements in old testament were only a shadow of the good things that were to come not the realities themselves. But the Pharisees did not understand this and often questioned Lord Jesus about his methods. Lord Jesus often emphasized that maintaining justice, showing mercy, being humble, faithful and spiritually clean is very important than following the law like a tradition.
Lord Jesus through his obedience have bridged the gap between God and man which was caused due to sin and saved us from our eternal death. Because we have received forgiveness from our sin, we take granted that even if we don’t follow everything the Holy Bible says, Lord Jesus will understand and forgive us. But the Word of God says that even if one of the law is not followed we will become least in God’s kingdom. Therefore we should not take the Word lightly and should be diligent in putting God’s Word in practice not just in church but also in our daily life where no one can see us.
Whenever we go out we get dressed and makes ourselves very presentable isn’t it? What if when we look in the mirror, we see a stain on the clothes, will we wear it? No, we will immediately try to remove the stain or change the clothes. If we are so conscious about how we look for a worldly gathering, how much more we should be concerned about how we will look when we enter heaven. Only if we put everything God teaches us to practice and without judging help other weak believers to follow God’s Word, only then we will receive the reward God has promised in Revelations to the churches. James 1:25 states” But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.”
Today many Christian believers are deceived by wrong doctrines taught by false God servants. Just as Lord Jesus mentioned in Matthew 24 about the end times we see today false ministers in churches, people’s heart becoming cold, hatred and wickedness among children of God. They have forgotten at what price they were saved and that we can lose the gift of salvation if we do not correct ourselves. Let us pray and humbly submit ourselves to be obedient to the Lord’s calling.
