Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law?
Galatians 4:21
Why would anyone want to be under the law? Because there is a deep instinct within all of us that wants to limit our liability. That’s why we are sometimes more comfortable with law than we are with love.
Think about the relationship you have with the company that issued your credit card. It is certainly not a relationship of love! You pay them what you owe. Sometimes you may get behind in your payments, and you end up owing them more. But even then, there is a limit to your liability. When you get your statement, you know exactly what you have to do. This is the debt you have incurred. This is what you owe. So, you write your check and you are done. A relationship of love is different. There are no defined payments and no limits.
When it comes to our relationship with God there is a strong instinct in our fallen nature that would prefer a relationship of law. Just tell me what I have to do. What is it? Confess on Sundays, eat fish on Fridays, have a daily quiet time, join a Bible study, get an accountability partner, say prayers with the family. What else? Fasting? How often and how long? Serving? What and where? Giving? How much? Give me the checklist. That is a relationship of law.
Relationships of law have clearly defined limits. Relationships of love have no limits. If God’s Spirit lives in you, you cannot relate to Him on the basis of law, but only on the basis of love. You will find yourself saying, “Were the whole realm of nature mine, that were an offering far too small. Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.”
Have you been trying to relate to God based on a relationship of law rather than love? If so, why do you think He calls you to a relationship of love?
