It's not only a natural question, but reflects a seemingly reasonable expectation that we in the profession of law ought to be able to help persons with their problems. All of us have problems from time to time that are beyond our own personal capacity to handle. And it is natural on such occasions to ask for help, and to seek the very best counsel we can obtain.

And it's also quite natural to want to help. To be able to give a person the kind of help he needs is one of the reasons we in law find our work so meaningful. There is often much that we can do to solve or alleviate various problems which come to our attention. In some areas, attorneys are called "counselors" and it's a good term for it indicates a large measure of the way in which we can help. However, there is much help that is simply not ours to give. There are many problems which are simply beyond our skills - problems that are very real to our lives and to our well-being that are not solved with legal skills.

What most of us want in life is, after all, not the mere absence of problems, but joy, friends, love and purpose. We want real life. While we in law can provide some help to persons with specific problems or needs-financial, business, family etc.-we cannot provide meaning for life.

Less tension, perhaps, but not real peace.
Justice, perhaps, but not joy.
Impartiality of judgment but not security against
isolation, loneliness and frustration.
We may help order the affairs of life but cannot
provide hope and meaning in the future.

Many of us have, however, come to find a source for this kind of life which is beyond the discipline of law. The REAL LIFE we all want is available, and we have found that this kind of life is discovered at the source of life itself, in God Himself. It is the kind of life the New Testament talks about, a life that is personally related to God through Jesus Christ. A life that accepts the free gift of God to receive Jesus Christ into one's life as Lord and Savior and thereby truly gains the REAL LIFE, now and forever, that God intends for us.

We as attorneys who follow Christ will do all we can to help you through the skills which are ours. But for that which really makes life ALIVE, and for those deep problems of meaning and death and life which perplex man, we invite you to seek the counsel of Jesus who said he came to "seek and save" those who needed and sought such help. If you need further counsel, just ask.

Picture: "The Good Samaritan" by Domenico Feti, a parable by Jesus teaching a lawyer how to truly live. Published: Christian Legal Society, 8001 Braddock Road, Ste 300, Springfield, VA 22151 - www.clsnet.org