Lenten Devotional - Day Nine

Read: Matthew 5:17-20

Think: What does Jesus mean that He “came not to abolish the law but to fulfill it?” How is it possible for you to be more righteous than the religious Pharisees? It’s not possible! Jesus fulfilled the law, meaning He was the only one who could keep it completely. That’s why He could pay the debt you owed by dying on the cross. He fulfilled it so you could be free to know God and follow His commands, but not be condemned by them.

Pray: God, thank you for your law. Your ways are so much better than my ways. Give me a love for your law. Jesus, help me to live in gratitude to you for fulfilling the law for me so that I could be in a relationship with God.

Apply: Which of God’s laws are you deliberately disobeying in your life right now? What might be better in your life if you repented and obeyed that command? What shame are you putting on yourself for your past sins that God has already forgiven?