Devotions Archive Archive: 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 Search Archive Print This Article What Jesus brings to the table Wednesday, March 21, 2001 Matthew 5:17-19 Jesus says, "Until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law." The letter is from Traffic Safety Court. The speeding ticket will be erased from my record if I go to class and pay a fine. It's as if I never broke the law at all. Hey, hey! If I get another ticket within six months, though, the first one magically reappears. I'm in big trouble. Ho, ho! Two tickets, I could lose my license! Neither a jot, nor a tittle, of the law has been removed. It's there all the time, waiting for me, rearing up its ugly head, whether or not the state chooses to extend occasional grace. God's choice is to extend consistent and complete grace, merciful God that he is, and Jesus comes to proclaim it. Lest he be misunderstood, though, Jesus makes it clear that the law is still intact. Don't get mixed up about that, he says. Right and wrong are still words for our vocabulary. The debate that rages within me between good and evil must go on. If I avoid it, if I pretend it's no longer relevant, I do so at my own peril. Jesus, let the fear of God compete within me with the joy of my salvation. And free me from my own self-righteousness that sometimes threatens to overwhelm even the conscience you have given me. "; Add      Edit    Delete