The Law and Faith

Teach me, Lord, the way of Your decrees, that I may follow it to the end.
Give me understanding, so that I may keep Your law and obey it with all of my heart.
Direct me in the path of Your commands, for there I find delight. Psalm 119:33-35

Faith is a little five-letter word that we sometimes equate with “doing all things right before the Lord at all times, trusting Him in everything, and praying really hard, believing He will answer all of our prayers, though we cannot understand it at all.” Unfortunately, faith is a really big thing that a really big God has asked us to have. Not only are we called to have faith in Him, but we are encouraged to act in faith…faith in the True and Living God. To whom much is given, much will be required and at least for me, this is sometimes a very daunting task.

Thankfully faith is also often referred to as a “gift from God” in Scripture, and we can be certain that it is not all dependent on our “ability” to have faith in Him. But unfortunately, we often forget that God has given us tools to grow our faith in Him. In our waiting for this “gift” and not trying to “work hard at achieving anything,” we often sit still and do nothing. We simply lay at night and “ask” for the gift of faith. This is also sometimes really unhelpful.

So we are left somewhere in the awkward middle, trying to do our best at what we know we are called to do (rightfully so since it benefits us and those around us) and at the same time trying to trust that we cannot do it on our own, allowing God to grow it (somehow in His supernatural mysterious way) deep within us.

Something that has clicked recently for me is the realization that God spent a lot of time giving His people “The Law” to help them live in a way that honors Him. For some reason, I never go back and read that with attention. Maybe it is the whole “Leviticus” thing that does not seem exciting to me. But slowly I am realizing that the decrees God gave His people are very purposeful, and although we live “under grace,” we do not have to throw them all out the window.

I believe that if we choose to follow them, we will be surprised at how our faith grows. There is a direct relationship between understanding and following His decrees and intimacy and trust with our Father. It worked for hundreds of years; it must still work today.

Although we do not usually think of delighting in the day-to-day commands as a way to work on our “faith,” I have found that the little things make a big difference. Even little things like turning on candles in my room to separate the Sabbath from the rest of the week (my attempt to honor the Lord’s command to keep the Sabbath holy) has made a significant impact. Each week I do it even more joyfully, and delighting in His command to keep the Sabbath holy has surprisingly made me trust His Word a bit more each time.

How do you feel when you think of “The Law”? How has your faith in God grown or changed when you have delighted in His decrees? What commands or decrees have you been working on recently? Have you spent time asking God how He wants you to follow them at this time? In what ways can you change your behavior, add or take away things to honor His commands?

Today’s post was written by Cynthia Ramirez-Martinez. Cynthia grew up in a Christian home in Mexico City. She studied Communications at Wheaton College in Illinois and moved back to Mexico last August. She currently teaches high school sociology, research, history and culture in English in Mexico City. Cynthia loves people, traveling, and missions. She gets most excited when she hears/talks about the global Church. You can read more from Cynthia at her blog, Far Country.

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