You Cannot Break the Law of God

“You cannot break the law of God; you can only break yourself upon it.”

I love that quote, which I just read this week in a book by D. James Kennedy called, “Why the Ten Commandments Matter.” 

“What do you mean, Doug?  Of course I can break the law of God!”

Yes, but the point is that the law of God stands firm.  You can’t break it apart or dissolve it or change it.  And if you attempt to, what ends up broken…is you.

Why is it that we think we can break God’s laws…for the better?  I’ll tell you why.  It’s because we are only thinking in the short run.

It’s like the little boy standing in the kitchen, the cookie jar standing wide open, crumbs all over his face, chocolate chips melted on his hands…and when his mother asks if he’s been sneaking cookies what does he say?   “No!”  Why does he lie?  Because he is only thinking about five seconds ahead…that if he says “no” his mother will believe him and he will be out of trouble.  Does that ever work?  Of course not. 

In a much larger sense, it’s the same with God and us.  We attempt to break God’s laws, looking for a short term advantage.  But it never works.  We only end up breaking ourselves in the process. 

I recently had a juicy temptation plopped in front of me.  I was making an insurance claim, but my policy was apparently written in such a way that to actually get the money, I would need to lie.  My agent even recommended that I lie!  Well, the moment of truth came, the man from headquarters had me on the phone, and the big question was asked.  I knew that by telling the truth, I would probably lose thousands of dollars. 

But God said – and I’ll use the old King James for its authoritative sound – “Thou shalt not bear false witness…”  Sure, in the short run I might have gotten away with it.  My claim might have gone through, and I might have gotten the money, a few thousand dollars maybe.  But at what price?  Would I sacrifice my soul for money?  Would I trade my integrity for cash?  Would I shame my Lord and my faith and my fellow believers?

So I told the truth, and that was that.  And actually, I can’t say I felt real good about it.  It hurt to know I was purposely wrecking my chance for the much-needed money.  But on the other hand, I know you never get away with anything.  First of all, God sees it all, even our thoughts and intentions.  And God has a way of making sure what goes around comes around.  He makes sure that we reap what we sow.  And He would have made sure that if I tried to break His law, that in the end it would stand firm, and I would have been broken upon it.

There’s an old saying, “If you don’t want people to read about it in the newspaper, then don’t do it.” 

In my old office back in Illinois I made myself a little plaque that read, “I will be careful to lead a blameless life.”  As I wrote it I thought that our normal tendency would be to have a plaque that reads “I will be careful not to get caught.”

But with God, we are caught from the moment we even think of breaking one of his laws.  With our Heavenly Father, we are like the little boy with his mother…we get away with nothing.

So today, if the tempter comes around with a special offer, remember, it won’t do you any good. 

You cannot break the law of God; you can only break yourself upon it.”

(As heard on Wave 94.1 FM)

dougapple@wave94.com

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