Day 32 Devotion – Does the Law still have Value to us?

And God said to Abraham: “As for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised; and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you. He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised, every male child in your generations, he who is born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not your descendant. Genesis 17:9-12


Many times as a Christian I hear people say that we are no longer under the law but now under Grace. I think many take this to mean that we can completely ignore the old law. I don’t think it is wise to totally fore go all of the wise council that the law contains. Sometimes science can show that there are things there that we should still hold onto. Circumcision is one of those things. Although circumcision may no longer be required for salvation, as the Apostle Paul illustrates so well, it is a beneficial practice. Health books will illustrate that circumcision is a practice of cleanliness. It is much more difficult to practice good personal hygiene on an uncircumcised penis. Statistics show the circumcised males have much lower incidences of urinary tract infections and penile cancer than uncircumcised males.


We see from the passage that circumcision was performed on the eighth day. This is when the baby’s body produces enough vitamin K, which is a blood clotting factor, to make the procedure safe. Nowadays, a baby is given a vitamin K shot in the nursery right after birth so the procedure can be performed before he is cleared to go home. This is most likely to occur in the first 72 hours. We see that Jesus’ parents observed this as he was taken to the temple on the eighth day for his circumcision and this is when Simon and Anna got to see him. Jesus himself said that he did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it. I think we need to use common sense and experience to determine what parts of the law to observe.