Under Penalty of Law

 A couple of days ago, my husband and I headed out to a nearby small town.  We'd heard that it was "Big Trash" day so drove under the cover of darkness to see what we could find.  Apparently we were too late.  Some of the trash had been picked up already by the commercial trucks.  But I DID find these cushions!  

When I viewed the photo, one of the first things I noticed was the white tags!  Even as a soon-to-be-65-year-old, I STILL have psychological hesitations when it comes to removing tags.   I was somewhat comforted thinking that the former owners of these cushions must have had the same hesitations....

But this morning, after they had dried from a good scrubbing, I took the plunge!

I think it is that "under penalty of law" part that gets to me.  I forget to read the REST of the tag!  And as I pondered this, the lights went on in my mind.  I understood more clearly the concept of law and grace.  Of the POWER of the law and sin over me before my RELEASE from it!  No more "have tos"; just the grace to "want to" and power to DO.

So, my dear brothers and sisters, this is the point: You died to the power of the law when you died with Christ. And now you are united with the one who was raised from the dead. As a result, we can produce a harvest of good deeds for God. When we were controlled by our old nature, sinful desires were at work within us, and the law aroused these evil desires that produced a harvest of sinful deeds, resulting in death. But now we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit.  (Romans 7:4-6)

Today, I will serve God with fresh insight about this "new way of living in the Spirit"!

Do YOU have any tags still attached to merchandise at YOUR house?

Come on.  Be honest!