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What Isn't Against the Law

by Jerry Ousley  
12/03/2010 / Christian Living

These days it seems like nearly everything is against the law. I know that we still live in the best country in the world. We have more freedoms than anywhere else on the planet. But there are so many little laws that we sometimes aren't even aware of. For instance, in my home state of Indiana," smoking in the state legislature building is banned, except when the legislature is in session." Now that one sounds like it was made with a few choice individuals in mind doesn't it? How about this one, "Spiteful Gossip and talking behind a person's back are illegal." Don't look now but I know a few church folks who may be in deep trouble.

Then in one local city there is a law that states, "It is forbidden to eat watermelon in the park." I guess they want folks to eat their watermelon out on the street across from the park. Another town has this law: "All black cats are to wear bells on Friday the 13th." It sounds like people in that town may be carrying superstition a little too far. Here's another local law: "One may only throw a stone at a bird in self-defense." I wonder who invoked the passing of this law: "It is illegal to make a monkey smoke a cigarette." And my all time favorite is: "No one may throw an ottoman across the street at their neighbor." That must have been a problem in that particular town.

Laws are made to protect our rights and to keep others from infringing upon them. But doesn't it just seem like we often carry things to the extreme? We have so many laws in this country that it's nearly impossible to keep from breaking one. I was in the shower one morning when an alarm clock I had set and had forgotten to turn off suddenly began croaking (yes, it is a frog alarm clock). My wife was asleep and I didn't want to wake her so I immediately got out of the shower and shut it off. What I didn't know was that in my own hometown I broke a law that says "individuals are not allowed to walk naked in their homes." I'm just not certain how they intend to enforce that law!

The Old Testament is full of laws that were designed by God to make the lives of the Israeli people healthy, strong, happy, and prosperous. But just like people of today, their leaders began adding to those laws by their own interpretation. I read somewhere that their ceremonial practice of hand washing was defined as washing all the way to the elbows then letting the water drip off the ends of their fingers. They were supposed to do this before they ate and if they didn't then they were considered breakers of the laws of cleanliness.

I'm so glad that our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, came to fulfill all those laws. It was impossible to be righteous before God until then because breaking one small law made one as guilty as committing murder. Jesus fulfilled them in our place.

But there are a few things that Paul told us were plainly not against the law. Isn't that a refreshing thought; something we can do that isn't against the law! He wrote in Galatians 5:22-23, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law." It may seem that a lot of our man-made laws were invented to prevent us from feeling these things but our Lord wants us to feel, express, and enjoy the fruit of the Spirit. God, by way of the Holy Spirit is actually the author of these fruit. We can pick them any time we like. We can enjoy the sweet juices that come from biting into them. How wonderfully refreshing it is to eat of these things!

Only in Christ can we be free. Only in Him can we truly experience the fruit of the Spirit. There are many imitations of this fruit in the world. You can know the difference because when it is artificial, man-made, or humanly induced, they will never last. But the fruit of the Spirit, now there's a treat that we can enjoy forever!

Jerry D. Ousley is the author of ?Soul Challenge?, ?Soul Journey?, ?Ordeal?, ?The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional and his first novel ?The Shoe Tree.? Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge.

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