What law cannot do

We're driving through traffic and the morning show comes on the radio. I listen to the discussion about today's dilemma, the one tossed out by the presenter to tempt people to ring in.

"Umbrella Etiquette" is the spin and someone rings with the suggestion that all umbrellas should be clear so that when they're held low, the view is not obscured. Nice. Simple, creative idea.

Suddenly the talk is of 'policing' the move to clear umbrellas and 'standards' for maufacturers of brollies, and my eyes do that cartoon thing that reminds me of minds boggling (not good in traffic). What the? I punch the off button with my finger, because there's no point in getting infuriated at morning radio.

Why does a good idea have to mean a new rule or guideline? When did suggestions become acts of parliament and law? Who said that wisdom or right living must be legislated? Is the purpose of a law to keep those who should know better out of trouble or is it to protect potential victims?

Can the law make me a good person?

I wish that I could fastidiously do all the things that would leave my life unsullied. Sometimes. Other times I just want to spend an hour sitting, eating maltesers and watching Dr Phil.

But I know that making more rules is not going to make us more caring, more compassionate, or less selfish. It just isn't going to happen.

The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. Romans 8:3

The paradox is that by living in a finite human body, Jesus invited us into the possibility of living the life God intended - no longer trapped by our own finite weakness.

Romans 8:4

I'm taking the time to listen to Romans 8, verse by verse, with the aim of memorising it. Join me?