Stamped Butterflies

While I was painting last night, I got to thinking of the spirit of the law, or the letter of the law.

What does this have to do with stamped butterflies? *Grin* Before we painted the back room, there were stamped butterflies around the windows and on the doorway. Not my style. Even though the room had been painted with primer, I could still see a few of them. It reminded me of an incident that happened when I was young.

My grandparents returned from a trip with a gift for each of us. We each got a rubber stamp, and we got to share the stamp pad. What fun! My mom, knowing that one of my sisters was a little to young for such a gift, and knowing how much she liked "decorating" the walls, told her "I don't want to see any kittens on the wall."

My mom never did see kittens on the wall. Ever. However, she did find some nifty butterflies on the wall. They were not applied to the wall by the person who received the butterfly stamp. No, they were applied by the very sister who my mom told not to stamp kittens on the wall.

So, she obeyed the letter of the law. She did not disobey my mom. But if she had gone by the spirit of the law, she would have realized that Mom didn't want anything stamped on the wall, and she wouldn't have done it.

And so, we have a choice to do the same when it comes to following God's Word. Are we going to follow the spirit of the law or the letter of the law?

Praise the Lord, we are not under the Law. We serve a risen Savior! However, God delights in His children when we follow His Word, and there are many commandments given to the believer in the New Testament. We have the choice to follow them, and how we are going to follow them.