Rules! What a Bother!

The National Football League says that the New England Patriots played the first half of the championship game with footballs that were not inflated to regulation pressure.  Some say, “No big deal!” Others may it out to be an offense worthy of daily national news coverage.  Still others excuse it saying “Everybody does it.”  I don’t know how or why it happened, but the game has rules and rules matter.  Did it make much of difference? Probably not, but that is beside the point.  The integrity of the game requires teams to play by the rules.

I gripe about rules sometimes. But, being a reasonable man I know that without rules and laws ours would be a world of chaos, a place where we could not live in security!  A few years ago, when the deck on the house we lived in at the time was rebuilt, I chafed at some of the regulations that our town had for construction.  The deck had to be moved over by 24” to meet side lot regulations in spite of the where the house was built. Silly stuff. Laws are like that sometimes, blind to the circumstance, but that is the price of order. I don’t like when a police officer pulls me over for going a little too fast, but I am very thankful because he is patrolling drivers who might otherwise drive while intoxicated think twice, which protects me.

Fences and boundaries can be a very good thing in a world where real sinners live.

God gave us the Law to show us the best way to live. Sometimes the rules run directly into our preferences. Sometimes, in light of our desires, they seem downright restrictive. But, they show us what pleases Him.  When we come to Christ and the Spirit changes us, inside out, we learn to respond to the prompting of the Spirit.  As we grow in grace and maturity, we need rules less and less because our hearts are aligned to His will. Paul was inspired to explain it like this? "The law (Moses OT code) was our guardian and teacher to lead us until Christ came. So now, through faith in Christ, we are made right with God. But now that faith in Christ has come, we no longer need the law as our guardian. So you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:24-26, NLT)

It’s good to go back and check the regs from time to time. The BIG TEN give us a summary of His expectations.  Have you read Ten Commandments recently? We would do well to memorize them. Make no mistake! Keeping them, if we could, won’t get us to Heaven! No amount of rule-keeping can make us right with God. Only Jesus Christ can forgive our sins, but the big ten serve the purpose of building some fences.  They are recorded in Exodus 20.

Here’s a paraphrase of what He told them.
1. No other gods but Me.
2. No idols in your life.
3. Don’t misuse my Name by claiming to act under my authority when you’re not.
4. Keep one day out of seven for worship (a Sabbath) following the Creation pattern I established.
5. Honor your parents and you’ll live longer.
6. No murder.
7. No adultery.
8. No stealing.
9. No lying about your neighbor.
10. No lusting for your neighbor’s stuff, his wife, or anything belonging to him.

We can spending a lot of time searching for loopholes, studying them to death, and twisting them to fit everyone but ourselves; or we can thank God for the wisdom He shared with us and conform to His rules. They can guide us to faithful reliance on our Savior who makes us holy starting in our heart, or they will stand as a witness against us when we are summonsed to the Throne to face the Judgment! Which will it be for you? Reading that ancient code I found myself challenged anew by the holy expectation of my Father. I am a free man in Christ Jesus, not bound by the Law of Moses, but it does inform me about the quality of the love that God seeks in me for Himself and for those who live alongside of me.

Read the big ten with appreciation today, and then take this Word with thanksgiving.  "Those who depend on the law to make them right with God are under his curse, for the Scriptures say, “Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the commands that are written in God’s Book of the Law.” So it is clear that no one can be made right with God by trying to keep the law. For the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.” This way of faith is very different from the way of law, which says, “It is through obeying the law that a person has life.” But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing." (Galatians 3:10-13, NLT)

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Take Time To Be Holy

Take time to be holy,

Speak oft with thy Lord.

Abide in Him always

And feed on His Word.

Make friends with God's children,

Help those who are weak.

Forgetting in nothing

His blessing to seek.

Take time to be holy,

The world rushes on.

Spend much time in secret

With Jesus alone.

By looking to Jesus,

Like Him thou shalt be,

Thy friends in thy conduct

His likeness shall see.

Take time to be holy

Be calm in thy soul,

Each tho't and each motive

Beneath His control.

Thus, led by His Spirit,

To fountains of love,

Thou soon shall be fitted,

For service above.

CCLI Song # 93748

George Coles Stebbins | William Dunn Longstaff

© Words: Public Domain