IT'S THE LAW

The Soul Anchor [Hebrews 6:19] - January 1, 2026

Every January with the coming of a new year comes new laws and 2026 will certainly be no exception.  California's new laws for 2026 will bring changes to the minimum wage, AI regulation, e-bike safety, employment protections, and housing, with key updates including a $16.90 statewide minimum wage, mandatory AI risk assessments, e-bike safety standards, expanded paid leave for crime victims, and new rules for rental unit maintenance, impacting businesses, workers, and residents significantly. The truth is most of us have kind of a love/hate relationship with the law.  We like the laws that protect us from the things we don’t like such as people killing us or stealing from us but don’t feel so great about the laws that keep us from doing what we want to do such as speeding or rolling through stop signs. 

Some of my favorite laws:

Throughout Alabama it’s illegal for a person to walk down the street with an ice cream cone in their back pocket. Back when most people got around on horseback, horse thieves would put ice cream in their pocket to lure horses away without being charged with stealing.

In Little Rock, Arkansas, it is against the law to honk a car horn in front of a sandwich shop after 9 p.m.

Here in California, a frog that has participated in a frog jumping competition cannot legally be killed (or, by extension, eaten).

In Chicago, it is illegal to eat in a place that is on fire.

The reality is that in trying to protect our societies and make everything “fair” things can get a little ridiculous (or really ridiculous),

Fortunately for us Jesus summarized what is most important in understanding and keep God’s laws. Matthew 5:17-18 says,

"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.”  Jesus fulfilled the law when he hung on the cross and said, “It is finished!”  The debt owed for our sins had been paid.

When asked about which commandment was the greatest Jesus responded.  Matthew 22:34-40 says,

“Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:  "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment and the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

It will be interesting to see how all of our new laws will be obeyed and enforced but as we begin this new year it will be our best year possible if we follow Jesus’ words and love God with all of our heart, soul and mind and love our neighbors as ourselves.