Daily Devotional for Tuesday 27th February
Living by faith
Today’s devotional looks at how Paul addresses the difference between following the laws only and living by faith in Jesus.
He says “cursed is everyone to does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law”
Every human being will bend or break rules at some point in their lives, maybe it’s a small thing, maybe it’s a big thing – Paul was trying to explain to the Galatians that by relying on the law alone to be near to God, it would end in that person cutting themselves off from God because, over time, they would break the laws. He goes on to say “the righteous will live by faith.”
The laws written were given in the Mosaic covenant, at a time when God gave Moses the 10 commandments for the Israelites to follow in order to be saved. This was a conditional offer for followers of God to adhere to, and these were broken. Now Jesus’ death and resurrection gave a new covenant in which we were all saved through Christ’s sacrifice for us. By having faith in Jesus, we have been given the gift of the Spirit. It is unconditional, it doesn’t rely on us following the laws or rules (which is probably a good thing because as human’s we can struggle with this sometimes.)
Time to reflect…
1. How humbling it is to know that God made a new covenant in order for us to be saved and be closer to Him. It was also a covenant in which we didn’t have to do anything – simply having faith in Jesus.
2. Take some time to reflect and think about how many other opportunities have we had or do we get whereby there is an unconditional offer for us and that we don’t have to sacrifice anything for it but actually somebody else takes that sacrifice for us?
Pause to pray…
Wonderful, loving God
Thank you for loving us so endlessly. As humans, we know we fail at so many hurdles – with each covenant You have made, we have failed You and still You don’t lose hope in us. The sacrifice of your perfect son shows us just how unconditional Your love for us is and I pray today that I remember this love You have for me every single day and continue to grow in my faith in order to remain close to You.
Amen.
