Life is precious; every day is a gift from God. I like to get up early in the morning, singing this psalm: "This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it" (Psalm 118:24). Now that is a great way to begin a day! However, there is more to that scripture verse than we may realize. It is not speaking of just another day. It does not say, "This is A DAY which the Lord hath made"; it says, "This is THE DAY which the Lord hath made!"

"THE DAY" is not like any other day; it is not a twenty-four-hour time span. It is the most important Day in the history of the universe. It was ushered in with the resurrection of Christ! When the Son of God rose from the dead, a New Day for us was brought forth by the mighty hand of God--a Day that has no ending, a Day we are living in today. It is The Day of the Sabbath Rest, The Day for the people of God to cease from their own works, and rest in the finished work of Christ!

It is The Day when the full inheritance purchased by Jesus on the cross of Calvary became available. It is The Day when the Old Covenant with all its rules and regulations was canceled, and the New Covenant went into effect. Although The Day began about two thousand years ago in our time span, each person enters it when they receive Christ and are born again. Actually, it is the Wedding Day for the Bride of Christ. The Day is for everyone ("For God so loved the world"); yet it is exclusively for the children of God. Christ died for the sins of the world; there is no need for anyone to be excluded from becoming a child of God and entering into this Great Day that the Lord has made.

God has placed the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ as a divider in His eternal time frame. Everything was one way up until then and another way after. Aren't you glad you live in The Day (on this side of the cross and resurrection)? Before The Day was ushered in, people were saved by believing in the coming Savior. Jesus said, "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad" (John 8:56). He saw it by faith, while we can actually, by faith, experience it.

From the fall of man in the Garden of Eden until this present day, God has been trying to reveal to people their need for a Savior. And that is not an easy task--even for the Lord! What makes it so hard is that we have a stubborn human nature and a freedom of choice that God will not violate. We humans have a problem realizing we cannot save ourselves. It takes a lot to convince some--even after they are saved--that righteousness is a gift from God and cannot be earned.

To help bring us to a realization that we cannot make ourselves righteous, God sent a vehicle through Moses. It was the law. "For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ" (John 1:17). I think of the law as an old school bus that was used to bring me into a place of grace. The Bible calls the law a schoolmaster; it says, "Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster" (Galatians 3:24, 25). The Greek word for "schoolmaster" is "paidagogos." It does not mean "a teacher" but rather "a servant" whose office it was to take the children to school. The law is not our teacher; it is the vehicle used to bring us to Christ. He is our Teacher!

Once that vehicle brings us to the Teacher, we must let it go. It is time for the children of God to get off the school bus and get with the Teacher! It is time to pick up the voice transmitter in the law vehicle and say, "Ten-four . . . over and out!" That is, Romans, chapter ten, verse four: "For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth" (Romans 10:4).

Some people say, "Oh yes, I believe that and I am living in grace," but they are still riding on the bus. It is time to stop the talk and walk the walk. That walk is walking in the New Covenant.

Why do we find it so difficult to stop the performance, dump the old ceremonies and simply rest in the finished work of Christ? Perhaps it is because we are still not totally convinced that we cannot make ourselves righteous by our works.

Some religious leaders would like you to believe that if you just come to their church, do a little praying and fasting, pay your tithes, wear a plastic smile and try to be good . . . all will be well with your soul. If that doesn't work and you think all is not well because you have a problem with a certain sin in your life, they have a ritualistic prescription to make you feel better.

Jesus was not so easy on those who looked at sin lightly, and wanted to have their own human remedies. He said, "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time. Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell" (Matthew 5:27-30). He also said, "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment . . ." (Matthew 5:21, 22).

These are very hard sayings; they bring the law to focus onto our thought life as well as our actions. Remember, Jesus was speaking to Old Covenant believers, trying to make them realize their need for the New Covenant that was soon to come.

Most religious leaders will not say to pluck out your eye or cut off your hand if you sin; they will tell you to do something to earn your righteousness, rather than telling you to stop the performance and receive the righteousness Christ purchased for you on the cross.

Jesus was the only One who kept the whole law; He is the only One who never sinned. He was not punished for His sins (He had none), but He was crucified for ours. What an exchange! Just think of it: our sins were imparted to Him and His righteousness was imparted to us! "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him" (2Corinthians 5:21).

When we receive Christ, we become righteous, for He alone is our righteousness, and we are out from under the law. The Bible says, "Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars . . ." (1Timothy 1:9, 10). Do you fit into that category? Are you sure you still want to be under the law? Aren't you glad Christ went to the cross and made you righteous?! Aren't you glad you are not living on the other side of the cross in Old Covenant times?!

The Old Covenant could not take away our sins, but it sure could expose them and make us realize our need for a Savior. The Old Covenant is: You try and you fail, while the New Covenant is: don't try. Jesus has done it for you; believe it and rest in His finished work. Before I came to Jesus, I thought I had to stop doing a lot of bad things. I tried and failed for a period of thirteen years. Then, one glorious night, the Spirit of God revealed to me that Jesus bore all my sins on the cross and there was nothing God was holding against me. After hearing that, I came rushing to Jesus. Then I found myself not doing the things I had tried to stop doing all those years. I didn't have to try not to do them; they were now just out of my life. People who knew me would ask me how I had made such a change, and I didn't know how to explain it, other than to say that Jesus did it.

I am so glad I am living in THE DAY that the Lord has made, which is the New Covenant. Here is how the Bible describes it: "For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: And they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more" (Hebrews 8:10-12).

The Old Covenant is like the Lord saying, "You try and see that you cannot do it," while the new is, "You cannot do it, so I did it for you." Shall we say, "Oh no Lord, I still want the Old; I want to do it myself!"?

I know a dear sister in Christ who would never say that to the Lord. She really loves to live in the New Covenant, and she desires to have all the true riches of her inheritance. She wants to enjoy her new life now, here on earth, as well as later in heaven. I was really surprised to hear that she, of all people, had a struggle letting go of the Old Covenant.

She shared with me how she has had a problem with a bad habit that has plagued her for many years, and how she tried in her own strength to give it up without success, condemning herself every time she failed. This went on and on until, finally, she said to the Lord, "I totally give up trying to be in control in this area of my life, and I ask You to overcome my habit."

She waited patiently, but the habit would not go away. Then, she asked the Lord why she could not have the true riches of temperance (self-control), for it is in her inheritance as a child of God. The Lord gently explained to her that the fruit of self-control truly is in her inheritance, and that He has been trying to give it to her, but He cannot until she comes out from living under the law and lives in His grace.

This was a shock to her for she was convinced she had been living in God's grace, and she quite frankly told the Lord so. But He showed her she really was not, for although she had stopped trying to overcome the habit herself, she still experienced self-condemnation each time she failed. That was a sure sign she was still living under the law. He told her she must stop condemning herself before He can set her free from the habit.

The Bible says, ". . . a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ . . . for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified" (Galatians 2:16). Living under the law rather than the grace of God is walking after the flesh and not after the Spirit; and the Bible states, "There is therefore now NO condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit" (Romans 8:1). This woman was coming to the Holy Spirit, the Executor of the estate of Christ, in her true identity as a child of God, to claim her inheritance. She had done everything right to receive her true riches except for one thing: She had not let go completely of the Old Covenant.

When a Christian feels condemnation, he can know for sure it is not coming from God, for Christ has already taken all the condemnation on Himself on the cross. What right do we have to condemn a child of God, even when the child is ourself? Self-condemnation is a frustration to the grace of God, for it is an obstacle that prevents God from distributing many of the true riches Jesus purchased for us on the cross. Paul the apostle said, "I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain" (Galatians 2:21).

Let us get off that old school bus of the Old Covenant and live in freedom, free from the bondage of the fear of death (Hebrews 2:15); from sin and guilt; from man's religion; from trying to live the Christian life in our own strength; from performing to please others; and from the power of Satan. Live in THE DAY that the Lord has made, and enjoy the awesome, unconditional love of God--for the REST of your life!!