While living in Thailand we visited various churches and got to know other Thai believers.  At one church in particular we joined their English speaking Bible study led by the Pastor’s wife.  Even though it was in English there was still plenty of language barriers!  In addition to pronunciation and accent differences, not everyone was fluent so there was plenty of opportunities of miscommunications.  Special attention to body language and emotions were an important part of trying to read and understand people.

The Pastor’s wife was a serious type of person.  She almost non-stop drove the group to do more and do better.  At one meeting she left the room for a while and the whole atmosphere of the group changed.  They started chatting and laughing.  It was as if a weight was lifted from the group.  The moment she re-entered the room, it was back to solemn business.

That change in atmosphere makes a good illustration of some the effects of living under the Law.  The group felt the weight of never doing enough.  There was an unmet expectation of perfection that killed the joy of fellowship.  The focus was all on what we needed to do and nothing on what He has done. If you are living under the Law you will not experience Grace!  It is either one or the other.  God went to great extent to place you under Grace, why go back under the grim critical eye of the taskmaster?

May you live in the joys of fellowship with the Father and His grace-filled children!

²³ Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. ²⁴ So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. ²⁵ But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, ²⁶ for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.
Galatians 3:23-26