ENCOURAGEMENT FOR THE DAY

THE LAW OF THE SPIRIT OF LIFE IN CHRIST

You've heard of Murphy's Law ("Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong.") Here are some new "laws", though, that you may not have heard of:

* Lerman's Law of Technology - Any technical problem can be overcome given

enough time and money.

Corollary - You are never given enough time or money.

* Murphy's First Law for Wives - If you ask your husband to pick up five items at the store and then you add one more as an afterthought, he will forget two of the first five.

* First Law of Living -- As soon as you start doing what you always wanted to be doing, you'll want to be doing something else.

* The Salary Axiom - The pay raise is just large enough to increase your taxes and just small enough to have no effect on your take-home pay.

* Miller's Law of Insurance - Insurance covers everything except what happens.

* Kenny's Law of Auto Repair - The part requiring the most consistent repair or replacement will be housed in the most inaccessible location.

* Second Law of Names - If there are two possible ways to spell a person's name, you will pick the wrong one.

Corollary - If there is only one way to spell a name, you will spell it

wrong anyway.

* The Grocery Bag Law - The candy bar you planned to eat on the way home from the market is hidden at the bottom of the grocery bag.

* Yeager's Law - Washing machines break down only during the wash cycle.

Corollary - All breakdowns occur on the plumbers' day off.

* Lampner's Law of Employment - When leaving work late, you will go unnoticed. When you leave work early, you will meet the boss in the parking lot.

The Bible is also filled with laws, everything from "You shall not commit adultery" to "You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together." Some laws are a part of the law of Moses and are no longer binding on us, and some laws are eternal, like this one:

* The Law of Sin and Death -- "The soul who sins shall die." (Ezek. 18:4)

Like many of the laws listed above, it is rather pessimistic and depressing, and rightfully so. We have all sinned, and so we know what the penalty is. Fortunately there is a corollary, though:

* The Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ -- If you are "in Christ" and walking "according to the Spirit," you can ignore the Law of Sin and Death (because Christ's death has paid the penalty for sin).

Listen to these words of hope: "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death." (Rom. 8:1-2)

May these words encourage those of us who are "in Christ Jesus" and spur us on to live godly lives.

Have a great day!

…..Alan Smith, Helen Street Church of Christ, Fayetteville, North Carolina by way of “Christian Voices” (ChristianVoices@att.net)