The Demand Without Supply
What the law outlined, grace accomplishes—God builds His life within.
Devotional Credit: Day by Day by Grace by Bob Hoekstra
Photo Credit: Unsplash
Today’s reading from Bob Hoekstra draws a stark contrast between the demands of the old covenant and the supply of grace found in the new. God’s commandments to Israel were not superficial—they were deep, heartfelt, and uncompromising. The standard wasn’t merely about doing what was right, but about doing it with one’s whole heart and soul. Holiness wasn’t relative; it mirrored God Himself.
Yet this lofty standard exposed a deeper need: the law could reveal the demand for holiness, but it offered no power to meet it. It didn’t extend a hand to lift the fallen. It couldn’t impart life. As Paul would later affirm, the law is good—but it is powerless to transform.
But woven into this sobering realization is a thread of hope: God always intended to bring in something better. The law was never meant to be the end—it was a tutor leading to grace. And grace is not merely a lenient alternative; it is the empowering life of Christ within us, fulfilling what the law could only demand. In grace, the impossible becomes possible—not by our effort, but by His indwelling life.
✍🏼 Personalized Journal Entry – Voice of the Holy Spirit Through Scripture
I never asked you to obey Me through your own strength. I never intended for you to struggle under a weight you were never designed to carry alone. The commandments I gave were good, and My standard has not changed—but I have made provision in Myself to fulfill it.
When I required Israel to love Me with all their heart and all their soul, I knew they could not do it without Me. I gave them a picture of holiness, but not the power. That was reserved for the fullness of time, when I would write My laws not on tablets of stone, but on hearts of flesh. I now dwell in you, and My life within you is your obedience.
You are no longer under the old demand, trying to ascend to My standard. You are under grace, where I descend into you and walk in you. My Spirit in you is not a coach cheering from the sidelines, but the very Life that performs what I desire. I do not require your adequacy—I only ask for your yielding.
In Christ, you have died to the law so that you might belong to Me. And I, who fulfilled the law in every way, now live in you. Rest, beloved. The burden to obey is no longer yours to bear. It is Mine—and I bear it perfectly.
Scriptures referenced: Deuteronomy 10:12–13; 26:16; Romans 3:23; 7:12; Hebrews 7:19; Galatians 2:20; Romans 6:14; Romans 7:4; Ezekiel 36:26–27; 2 Corinthians 3:3
🔑 Real-Life Analogy
It’s like receiving a beautifully crafted instruction manual for building a complex instrument—but no tools, no parts, and no hands to build it. Then one day, the Creator Himself walks in, smiles, and says, “I’ll build it in you.” Suddenly, the manual is no longer a burden—it becomes a blueprint for what’s already happening within.
🙏🏼 Prayer of Confidence
Father, I thank You that I am no longer under a system that demands what I cannot supply. You have given me Yourself, and in Christ, every requirement is already fulfilled. I rest today, not in my resolve to obey, but in the reality that Jesus lives in me. I rejoice that the life I now live, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. In You, the standard is not lowered—it is fulfilled, perfectly and completely, through grace.