Today's Passage - John 7:19-29

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english John 7: 19-29   Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?" "You are demon-possessed," the crowd answered. "Who is trying to kill you?" Jesus said to them, "I did one miracle, and you are all amazed. Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision (though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs), you circumcise a boy on the Sabbath. Now if a boy can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing a man's whole body on the Sabbath? Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.".......                  The Lord Jesus argued with the Jewish leaders about keeping the law. Jewish leaders at the time favored the law, but the law instead became their stumbling blocks. In the bible the Lord tells us very clearly that the law hangs on Christ; in other words, the real purpose of the law is to bring the human hearts before Jesus Christ. There is this so-called "legalism" when we emphasized the law over bringing the human hearts before God.                  The Jews at that time saw Jesus healing the sick on the Sabbath; they felt healing the sick on Sabbath were impermissible, while ignoring Jesus Christ is actually the Lord of the Sabbath. Jesus healed the sick on Sabbath such that people can find real peace that really is the will of God. Today you observe the Sabbath; even if you do nothing on the outside but inside your mind are frantic; unable to rest, then you really have not observed the Sabbath.                 Therefore it is not the law that is important, rather it is where the law will lead us. Maybe now we no longer comply with the law of the Jews in the past, but it is undeniable that we often have the so-called "traditions" in our areas of church and personal lives. We often stick to these traditions, so that when someone would not comply with our traditions, we would give them strange looks, even passing criticism and judgments. May God help us to soften our hearts, humble our spirits, let us realize what matter most is not tradition, but whether or not the human hearts are being brought before God.                  The house of God is like a great garden blossoming with all sorts of colorful flowers. Ask God to give us a broad mind to accept His work around the world, and pray that our hearts would come to Christ instead of our traditions. We can bond with the other believers once you do that!                            Pray with Pastor Tong           Dear Lord, thank you, because by your words we have a broad mind. Lord we pray you help us value our relationship with you more than our traditions. May the Lord lead us and we pray in the victorious name of Jesus, Amen!