John1:17

For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ

Today's world Bible School lesson was about the old and new covenants. the following are my comments to a student answer.

I find that so many people I talk to don't understand the difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament. Understanding this difference is really fundamental to understanding the Bible. I have talked to friends who point out some of the strange commandments in the Old Testament and yes, they are right there are some strange commandments. But today we are not under those laws. We are under the law of Christ. I think of it as the way we bring up our children. When our children are very small we make very clear rules for them,  they simply have to trust us and obey us.  But as they get older they have to make decisions on their own and they aren't just following our rules anymore. With my son I use this phrase "trust, obey, do the right thing". As a toddler my child just simply had to trust me and obey me. I knew what was best for him. But as he gets older he will do the right things for the sake of doing the right thing. When he's little I tell him to clean his room. If he trusts me he will do it because I told him to.  As he gets older I am hoping that eventually he will learn to keep it clean just because it's the right thing to do, not because his mom calles him everyday and tells him to clean his house. I think it's the same with God. In the first covenant, the Israelites were given very clear instructions. The people had to trust him and simply obey God. Now we still trust and obey him, but the New Testament gives us guidance to doing the right thing.

Lord, please help us to do the right thing. Amen.