Well then, am I suggesting that the law of God is sinful? Of course not! In fact, it was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, “You must not covet.” (Romans 7:7)

Read: 2 Chronicles 4:1-6:11, Romans 7:1-13, Psalm 17:1-15, Proverbs 19:22-23

Relate: How well can you focus? In this video, how many passes does your team make? I would recommend making the video full screen before watching…

I know, my first reaction on seeing this video was, “Next time I see a moonwalking bear on a bicycle, I will be sure to notice him.” There’s also a version or two of a gorilla thumping his chest. And then there’s the one where a guy giving directions is interrupted by a door. In each of these, about 50% of the people do not notice what has happened. What was even more surprising when the scientists first conducted the gorilla experiment, was that almost every single person who did not at first see the gorilla (or in this case a moonwalking bear) also refused to believe that there even had been a gorilla until they were shown video proof. It is bad enough that we can be blind to the obvious, what is worse is that we are blind to our blindness.

React: We are all the hero of our own story. Below you have a scale of one to ten. One is the devil completely and totally evil. Ten is God, always in every way perfect. Knowing that it might fluctuate from time to time, where would you place yourself on this scale?

I bet most of you probably put yourselves right around seven. If you are particularly arrogant, you might give yourself a 9, you know, Billy Graham, Mother Theresa, and you. If you have especially low self-esteem (or if you went with your theology rather than your true self-image) you might put yourself on the left-hand side of this scale. But 90% of you feel you deserve something between a 6 and an 8. Newsflash, even Hitler, Stalin, and Hannibal Lecter would put themselves in that range. What we feel about ourselves is a horrible way to gauge who we truly are.

Why is this? Because we all have an innate tendency to ignore the moonwalking bear. We always want to focus in on the white, the good, so much that we are blind to the fact that there is sin walking right through the middle of our busy lives. What is worse, we are blind to our blindness. This is why God gave us the law. Don’t lie. Guilty. Don’t steal. Guilty. Don’t covet. Guilty. Don’t kill (even in your heart Matthew 5:22). Guilty. Don’t commit adultery (even with your eyes Matthew 5:28) Guilty.

I am guilty. You are guilty. We are all guilty. God’s law didn’t make us guilty. It simply brought things into focus and showed us what we really are. Until we become aware of our blindness and see things the way they truly are, we will never be able to understand how amazing God’s grace actually is.

Respond: 

Dear God,
I thank You for Your amazing grace. In my arrogance, I thought I didn’t need it. In my blindness, I didn’t even realize how desperate for You I really am. But in Your mercy, You gave me the law as a diagnosis so that I might be willing to accept the cross as Your cure. So now I turn my focus on You. You are my vision and I don’t want to miss anything You have in store.
Amen