Thoughts on Romans - Day 38

                                   Romans 13:8-10
 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. ⁹ The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”¹⁰ Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. ¹² The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. ¹³ Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. ¹⁴ Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.


        I was able to make someone almost pass out in the OR the other day. It was awesome. While we were doing a cesarean section with one of the OB nurses assisting me, (this is out of their comfort zone anyway) I started telling her all the things she shouldn't do; "Don't hyperventilate", "Don't think about the smell", "Don't keep your legs locked", "Don't breathe through your mouth", "Don't get overly hot", etc. Pretty soon she was white as Liv on iZombie and had to leave the room and go lay down. A second assistant came in to replace her and I started working on her but the case was almost over by then. What's the point - that I'm a jerk? Maybe, ha, but my point today is when you focus on all the things not to do in life, in our faith, it paralyzes you. In medicine, I have operated with doctors who were so scared of making a mistake or cutting the wrong thing, that they turned a 30 minute case into a 3 hour case exposing the patient to a whole new set of morbidity. I have seen doctors so afraid of missing something that they order $10k dollars of unnecessary tests because they are focused on what not to do. We all know people so afraid of germs, bugs, allergies, viruses, lice, terrorism, flying, etc. that effectively they become social hermits. Like the previous examples, they are focused on things to avoid - like the law - and are bound.

        In this passage, Paul tells us that the law crippled us in this way. Not only that but the Pharisees added to the law to put guardrails around the 613 laws or so to make a whole extra book of "don'ts". Christ came to bring freedom. Back in the garden, back when things were perfect there was one rule - don't eat from the one tree. Why so few? I once heard Andy Stanley preach on this and he said,"because God is not into rules, He is into freedom". What is our one rule now? Love. Jesus also said this when quizzed about the Law as to what the greatest commandment was. Jesus replied, "Love God and Love your neighbor as yourself. All the laws are summed up in this." Who needs 613+ laws? If I love God I will seek to please Him and not sin. I am free to love God and do whatever I want to do, knowing that whatever I want to do is all about making Him happy. That being said, we must know what the Bible says about what makes God happy. That's why Paul goes on to list a few things that don't make God happy such as debauchery, carousing, sexual immorality, dissension and jealousy to name a few. You can't assume to know what pleases God without the truth of scripture. Scripture determines what loving truly is.

           If I love my neighbor, I am free to serve him, to consider her more important than myself. I won't say wrong things about them, gossip about them, cheat them, hate them, steal from them, try to undermine their marriage, wish I had what they had, etc. I don't have to go through the day saying "I better not do this, I better not do that..." but rather what can I do today to make Jesus happy? What can I do to make God say to the accuser of the brethren, "That's my boy!" What can I do to make my neighbors feel loved or better about themselves or make their lives easier?

      Is your Christian life filled with trudgery? Do you feel like you are carrying a hundred pound Bible on your shoulders. Are you filled with guilt or fear that you are going to mess up? You are living under law. God doesn't want that for you. Accept His grace. Accept His freedom. Come on, live a little!

       Lord, I'm so glad that I am living in the light and freedom, and acceptance of Your love. Man, this life is great!  Amen