[Editor’s note: This is part two of Jennifer’s Straight-Up series. Be sure to read part one here, if you missed it.]

I need more coffee. How ‘bout y’all?

Maybe you hear the word “law” and something inside you just shuts down. You don’t want to listen anymore, cause it’s just gonna be a bunch of stupid rules made up by stupid old men who don’t know anything. They sure don’t know you or your life or your problems. Maybe the concept of law means nothing to you unless the law sticks it to the right people. Am I close?

Let this be an opportunity, then. Here’s your chance to demonstrate a willingness to listen and consider what’s being said. That’s a mark of maturity that few adults have these days. I’m not patronizing you, honest. I’m asking you to listen and consider carefully, not react out of emotion. Don’t prejudge. Deal?

So what is the Moral law anyway?

What Does Moral Law Even Mean?

In a nutshell, it’s the law of God. It’s not man-made at all. It is God’s operating code for our lives here on Earth. It defines right from wrong, and safety from danger. It distinguishes truth from lies, and life from death.

As I said before, it’s a mistake to think of the moral law as a ball and chain you have to drag around all your life. It’s purpose isn’t to weigh you down with rules. God’s law isn’t designed to ruin your fun or take things away from you. Just the opposite.

Whatever violates the moral law is sin, and sin holds you captive. Think of the moral law as a Stay Out of Jail card. It is freedom! Far from taking, the moral law is designed to give life.

You can’t choose what’s right if you don’t know what’s right. You can’t avoid the wrong if you can’t identify the wrong. If you don’t know the fire is hot, you’ll reach out your hand and get burned.

God has set you up for success, not failure. He isn’t eager to blame you or condemn you. He wants to see you live a life of real joy and freedom. For that reason, He has created each of us with the ability to know His law. You don’t have to be a genius or a philosopher to understand it. In fact, He has written it on every human heart. We call this knowledge that’s engraved on our souls the natural law.

St. Thomas Aquinas explained it this way: “The natural law is nothing other than the light of understanding placed in us by God; through it we know what we must do and what we must avoid.”

The natural law conforms to nature (what a name!) and right human reason. It is universal. It is permanent, or immutable. It does not adapt itself to the different opinions of any age. It stands as a fixed point of light so that however dark and chaotic life gets, the right path can be seen and followed. It’s the Never Get Lost app.

Here’s the straight-up part I want you to hear: You cannot reject the natural law and live a good life. You may have material success, fame and all the luxuries you could wish for, but you will not have a good life. Indeed, a great many people today seem to have everything the world can offer and by all appearances are having a great time. But that’s not what I mean by a good life.

You Choose: God, or Not.

There are really only two choices in this life. God or not. That’s it. Even the biggest decisions you’ll ever make really boil down to that: God, or not. There is no halfway. No in-between. No neutral ground.

We’re only free to live with abandon when we know how to avoid what will kill us.

God loves freedom more than anyone else, so He will never violate yours. He’ll never force you to do anything. But that doesn’t mean you get to make the rules for yourself and expect God to go along. He’s still God and you are not. Did you form God from the dust of the ground? No, you didn’t. Did you set all the stars in place and give the sun its heat? Nope. He did that. Without your help.

When you can put air in your own lungs or form a blade of grass by your own power, then you can make your own laws. Till then, you are blessed to have God and His laws on your side. He wants you to know where the line is so you’ll be able to step back from it. He wants you to understand that *this* will bring you life, but *that* will bring you death so that you can choose life.

We’re only free to live with abandon when we know how to avoid what will kill us. Think of the natural and moral law as the wall around the edge of the cliff keeping you from falling over the side. GK Chesterton described it this way:

Christianity is the only frame which has preserved the pleasure of Paganism. We might fancy some children playing on the flat grassy top of some tall island in the sea. So long as there was a wall round the cliff’s edge they could fling themselves into every frantic game and make the place the noisiest of nurseries. But the walls were knocked down, leaving the naked peril of the precipice. They did not fall over; but when their friends returned to them they were all huddled in terror in the centre of the island; and their song had ceased.

God wants you to live with abandon and joy. He wants you to just plain live, and do that forever with Him. For that reason, He has made His law known to you, and made you able to accept it if you choose. Remember that God will never deny you your choice. But every choice brings consequences or blessings. God will not spare you the consequences of bad choices. He will give you whatever you choose.

Choose wisely by considering the natural law. Listen to the voice of God. Here’s a place to start.

Don’t go away yet! We need to talk about virtue.

This is part two of Jennifer’s Straight-Up series. You can read part three here.

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