Today’s Reading: John 5:10-14
Hearing God’s Voice for Today:
“Now that day was the Sabbath…Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, ‘See you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.’”
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Jesus healed the man who had been lame for 38 years. He healed him on the Sabbath. In doing so, he shattered the silly traditions of men that said no healing should happen on the Sabbath. His desire for people to be governed by grace on all days, especially the Sabbath, had become legalistic imprisonment.
The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. It was created to give one day’s rest that renews minds, bodies, and souls. It also reconnects spirits with the Lord through worship—the one from whom all blessings flow. He is the Lord of the Sabbath. He created it. He knows its purpose. This purpose had been horribly misappropriated by the religious leaders of that day.
His desire is for your heart to be filled with his grace. A personal relationship with Jesus is not about following rules and regulations— or the traditions of men. When you know his forgiveness, he lives in you and you in him. You walk closely and intimately with one another. You converse throughout the day.
Yet he also doesn’t want you to miss this very important truth: When you know his forgiveness, and you walk closely together, you are not to forget his moral law. The Ten Commandments are gifts to you—including the Sabbath. They show you how people should live a civil society. They are guardrails on the highway of life designed to keep you from hurt and pain.
Remember that this grace is not earned by obeying the moral law. It is given to you the moment you receive Jesus as Lord and Savior. It’s a gift that can never be earned.
And when you’ve truly received his grace, you will still obey his moral law—not because you have to, but because you want to. Your obedience will please him—the one from whom you’ve received grace, forgiveness, and eternal life.
That’s why Jesus told the healed man to sin no more. When rightly understood, the receiving of his grace and forgiveness should always lead to holy obedience. In response to his indwelling love, his followers live out a righteousness that exceeds the righteousness of those living by the law. There is a desire not to sin.
Joyful are those who desire to obey God’s law and search for him with all their hearts. God’s law is good, righteous, and holy.
Is there a desire deep within your heart to obey all that the Lord has commanded you to do? Is the greatest desire of your heart obedience to his moral law—the Ten Commandments? Do you yearn to be holy as he is holy? Have you set aside the Sabbath as a day of rest and worship of him?
If yes, it’s proof you understand how profound his amazing grace is. It shows you know what he rescued you from so that you don’t desire to sin again.
Is this you?
[from “Hearing the Voice of God” by Pastor David Chadwick, Moments of Hope Church, Charlotte, NC]