We must obey God rather than men. – Acts 5:29
Is it ever right to disobey the law? Peter and other apostles believed so. When they were jailed for preaching the gospel, an angel set them free. The officers who checked on them found the guards in place and the jail secure, but the apostles were not there. Someone came and reported that they were back in the temple preaching. The high priest angrily forbade them from teaching in the name of Jesus. That is when Peter responded with today’s verse, “We must obey God rather than men.”
In his letter from the Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King, Jr., wrote, “One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.” However, two wrongs do not make a right. People protesting unjust laws must do so without injuring others. In both of these cases, in their protest, they suffered the consequences and did not attack others.
Recently, protests and laws have come against freedom of speech and religion. There may come a day when followers of Jesus will have to choose between obeying God or obeying people. This is a difficult position to be in. In some countries, merely being a believer in Christ is against the law.
Pray that those in authority would protect freedom of religion and speech in the United States. Pray for those who head ministries in this country that serve to guard human rights. Ask God to give them success in their efforts to help those in other countries who are condemned for their faith in Jesus.
I love what Joshua said, Joshua 24:14-15
Choose Whom You Will Serve
14 “Now, therefore, fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15 And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
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