The blessing of rules. An odd title but having spent the past few months reading through the first books of the Bible, I have been at times a little bogged down with all the regulations that God gave Moses and then with Moses passing them on to the Israelites. There were not many situations for which Moses was not given a rule or instruction – often in quite detail..
It has set me thinking about the rules in our own lives. I have come up with a thought that all rules really are placed in our lives for safety – either for our own or for those with which we deal.
Often we in the church talk about living not under the law but under grace and that is true in that we do not have to make sacrifices for our sins but have been redeemed and reconciled to God by the ultimate sacrifice of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, this has sometimes encouraged us to think that since we live under grace, we are not as obliged to follow the rules given us.
However, I have been reminded that in every organization I have been connected with -- work, school, church – there have been regulations to be followed. When they are followed, the whole organization functions smoothly and effectively.
In the case of children, there are so many rules; but, as far as I can see, they are all there for only one reason, to keep the children safe themselves or in their interactions with one another. I have just recently read an article about babies in vehicles, all about which way the baby should face - backwards until a specific weight and then frontwards, in a very specific type of seat. Not that it makes the baby happier or less likely to be car sick, just that it is safer.
Seatbelts - many people object to being “forced” by a rule/law that they must wear them. However, in the bridge collapse this summer in the mid-west, I couldn’t help but marv
el at the man whose truck was cut in two and he was saved, only slightly hurt, all because he was seatbelted in. What a wonderful story. The blessing of the seatbelt rule!!
Jesus spoke quite a few times about following the rules, the laws of the land. One that comes to mind was His reference to paying taxes, In Matthew 22:21, “Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's.”
Then in Paul’s writings, in 2 Timothy 2:5, “Similarly, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor's crown unless he competes according to the rules.”
And the instruction for us to “Pray for those who rule over us”, and in Titus 3:1, “Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good”.
And in 1 Peter 2:13, “Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority”
So many rules, and then to pray for those who make the rules for us!
What about the rule of not following too closely to the car ahead of you. A few days ago, I had to pass a minor (probably not for them) accident – one car had been following too closely to another car, bumped the car in front and both two cars ended up “in the ditch”, in the median. It has been “awhile” since I studied the drivers’ training booklet, but it seems to me there is a law about this which I at one time knew, the precise distance required between me and the car in front. Rules, rules, rules. However, although neither driver appeared to be hurt, their day had really been messed up - if only . . .
Today’s Christian loves to “soften” everything - so instead of rules, we use the term “boundaries” - instead of sin, we use “indiscretion”. I, like everyone, do not like rules, and I too do not like to have my sins pointed out by scriptures, law enforcers, or friends. But, if I follow Jesus and His Word, I cannot hide from His clear, direct treatment of these topics. Do I sin? Of course, every day - however, I try not to sin, not to “mar the face of Jesus” - same topic I was pondering a few weeks ago.
Rules keep us safe; boundaries keep us in proper relationship with others; His love for us keeps us wanting to follow Him. John 14:15, “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” (KJV)
Note to my friends. If you see me sinning, breaking rules, laws of the land, don’t hesitate to point it out. Being accountable to my friends keeps me safe.
Submitted by Naida
It has set me thinking about the rules in our own lives. I have come up with a thought that all rules really are placed in our lives for safety – either for our own or for those with which we deal.
Often we in the church talk about living not under the law but under grace and that is true in that we do not have to make sacrifices for our sins but have been redeemed and reconciled to God by the ultimate sacrifice of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, this has sometimes encouraged us to think that since we live under grace, we are not as obliged to follow the rules given us.
However, I have been reminded that in every organization I have been connected with -- work, school, church – there have been regulations to be followed. When they are followed, the whole organization functions smoothly and effectively.
In the case of children, there are so many rules; but, as far as I can see, they are all there for only one reason, to keep the children safe themselves or in their interactions with one another. I have just recently read an article about babies in vehicles, all about which way the baby should face - backwards until a specific weight and then frontwards, in a very specific type of seat. Not that it makes the baby happier or less likely to be car sick, just that it is safer.
Seatbelts - many people object to being “forced” by a rule/law that they must wear them. However, in the bridge collapse this summer in the mid-west, I couldn’t help but marv
el at the man whose truck was cut in two and he was saved, only slightly hurt, all because he was seatbelted in. What a wonderful story. The blessing of the seatbelt rule!!Jesus spoke quite a few times about following the rules, the laws of the land. One that comes to mind was His reference to paying taxes, In Matthew 22:21, “Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's.”
Then in Paul’s writings, in 2 Timothy 2:5, “Similarly, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor's crown unless he competes according to the rules.”
And the instruction for us to “Pray for those who rule over us”, and in Titus 3:1, “Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good”.
And in 1 Peter 2:13, “Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority”
So many rules, and then to pray for those who make the rules for us!
What about the rule of not following too closely to the car ahead of you. A few days ago, I had to pass a minor (probably not for them) accident – one car had been following too closely to another car, bumped the car in front and both two cars ended up “in the ditch”, in the median. It has been “awhile” since I studied the drivers’ training booklet, but it seems to me there is a law about this which I at one time knew, the precise distance required between me and the car in front. Rules, rules, rules. However, although neither driver appeared to be hurt, their day had really been messed up - if only . . .
Today’s Christian loves to “soften” everything - so instead of rules, we use the term “boundaries” - instead of sin, we use “indiscretion”. I, like everyone, do not like rules, and I too do not like to have my sins pointed out by scriptures, law enforcers, or friends. But, if I follow Jesus and His Word, I cannot hide from His clear, direct treatment of these topics. Do I sin? Of course, every day - however, I try not to sin, not to “mar the face of Jesus” - same topic I was pondering a few weeks ago.
Rules keep us safe; boundaries keep us in proper relationship with others; His love for us keeps us wanting to follow Him. John 14:15, “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” (KJV)
Note to my friends. If you see me sinning, breaking rules, laws of the land, don’t hesitate to point it out. Being accountable to my friends keeps me safe.
Submitted by Naida
posted by Randall | 8:33 a.m.
3 Comments:
This blog started several months ago with the subject of grace and carried on for quite some length of time. If it were not for the grace of God we would be without hope. I thank God for His grace and I don't feel we can emphaize it enough, however Naida, you are correct in saying what you say about rules. Paul wrote to the Romans and said, What? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Grace is not licence, it is unearned favor and neither due rules save you but as you so clearly point out, they keep you from harm and they do not conflict nor do they frustrate the grace of God.
Naida the message in this blog on GOD’S rules is so in line with what the pastor preached on this morning that I guess one should take a real good look at one’s life I have I don’t like what I see .
What the pastor said was tuff and hard to except but we all know though unfortunate it is so very true. I think a lot of people will think boy I am sure glad the pastor was talking about him and not me and when they realize he was they will most likely get mad at him the truth hurts but God knows and so do we that it is time yes it is way past time to learn the rules and start obeying them .WE better all get down on our knees and thank GOD that Russell Knowles loves us and God enough to be a little tuff weather we get mad or not. Thanks pastor for pointing out our failure to obey God’s rules but unfortunately both you and I know that unless we ask God’s help and continue to ask God’s help things just aren’t going to change.
Coffee
Hello Naida
You are right about rules.
We all have trouble keeping them at times.We always think that they are there to stop us from having fun,but the fun we get by braking the rules most always leads to us having to pay a high price for that fun.You know that old saying rules are made to be broken that is were the trouble starts.We better start looking at rules in a
new way,seeing them as a good thing
there to help us from getting hurt.God gave us rules so we would know how to live our life and told us to fellow them. that should be all we need to keep the rules.
C.M.
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