Chapter 2 – A Meeting With Dr. Law
The greatest message in the Bible and the theme of the whole Bible is grace. Now grace is the free and unmerited favor of God and there is an unbreakable relationship between law and grace. With that in mind, let me be the sinner because all have sinned and come short of the glory of God “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way…” “There is none that doeth good, no, not one.” “There is none righteous, no, not one.”
Therefore, I know I’m having some serious internal trouble and so I head for Dr. Law, and Dr. Law is always in his office and ready to see the sinner. The secretary told me that he was waiting for me. I stepped inside his office and started to relate my signs and symptoms to which he said, “I will not need your help,” to which I said, “Do you think you can find out what is wrong with me?” And he said, “No, sir, I don’t have to think I KNOW what is wrong with you you have heart trouble. You’re just like all the rest of my patients.”
My old flesh rebelled and it didn’t make sense to me that every one of his patients would have the same disease But after ail, dear friend, the law doesn’t make sense to the sinner because . . . “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”
So the flesh gets ready to argue the issue and I say, “Dr. Law, you just don’t understand. I’m having trouble with my hands. I spend a lot of time dealing a deck of cards and I’ve even used them to fight with. My hands are giving me trouble.” And Dr. Law said, “No, it’s your heart.”
I said, “Doc, I’m going to have to argue with you you may be a doctor, but still you don’t understand me. I’m having trouble with my eyes. It’s nothing for me to sit two or three hours in one night and watch Hollywood and another hour reading magazines and newspapers and my eyes are never satisfied so I must be having eye trouble” The old doctor said, “No, my friend, it’s heart trouble-just plain heart trouble.”
I said, “Dr. Law, be reasonable about this thing. I’m having trouble with my tongue. It says things that are sharp and ugly and even smutty jokes have come unrehearsed and unplanned and I believe there is something rotten about my tongue. Please examine my tongue.” Dr. Law says, “No, it’s heart trouble.”
By this time, my rebellion had mounted and I tried to tell Dr. Law it was my ears that would listen to ungodly gossip. It was my feet that would dance and carry me to places I ought not to go to which he answered, “You have a bad case of heart trouble.” Once more, in desperation, I said, “Dr. Law, surely there is something wrong with my taste. I’ve even cultivated a like for intoxicating beverage and even dope and there must be some way you can help my taste.” And Dr. Law said, “That will be taken care of when your heart is fixed.”
In rebellion and desperation I said, “Dr. Law, I’m going to another doctor,” to which he said, “The woods are full of them, but you’ll never get well until your heart is made right.” I said to Dr. Law, “Would you recommend any other doctor for a consultation?” He said, “There is only one doctor I would recommend and if you won’t listen to me, you’ll never go to him and I’ll never recommend another.”
