-
Psalm 19:7-9
The law of the Lord is perfect,
refreshing the soul.
The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy,
making wise the simple.
The precepts of the Lord are right,
giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are radiant,
giving light to the eyes.
The fear of the Lord is pure,
enduring forever.
The decrees of the Lord are firm,
and all of them are righteous.
"But, I don't like the Rules"
Rules. They are everywhere. Let's look at the game of hockey:- No slashing
- No tripping
- No holding
- You can't cross the offensive blue line before the puck
- The road team must change lines first
- You can't shoot the puck down the ice from behind the red line
- No cross checking
- You must wear a helmet (except in the NHL)
We could probably make a list spanning 100's of pages, but let's not do that right now. We really think you get the picture. The game of hockey is full of rules. Most of the time we want to chuck the rule book out and just play. Rules and statutes just slow us down. They get in the way. After, rules are made to be broken, Right?WRONGIf you read Psalm 19 you see that God has rules too. And just like many hockey rules, we sometimes wonder why God would ever give us certain things to follow. If He really loved us, He would just let us do what we want. He would let us be free.
Well, the things is....God is much smarter than we are. He gives us rules to follow because He knows (far better than we do) those rules are going to be the best thing for us. Just look at how the writer of the 19th Psalm describes them:- Statutes of the Lord = Trustworthy, making wise the simple
- Precepts of the Lord = Right, giving joy
- Commands of the Lord = Radiant, giving light to the eyes
- Decrees of the Lord = Firm, all are righteous
Don't read the Bible as a bunch of stuff you HAVE to do. Read the Bible as a bunch of stuff you WANT to do because God knows what's best for us.Closing Thought
The N.T. tells us these very rules in the Bible show us our sin. We will never live up to the standard of rules God demands of us. We always will fall short. This doesn't mean we just forget about the rules God sets forth for us, but it does mean we don't have to beat ourselves up for mistakes. The beautiful thing is that God sent His son Jesus to make sure our mistakes are forgiven through His death on the cross.Follow the rules because they are ultimately good. When you happen to mess up, don't worry because in Christ you have been forgiven.Closing Questions
1. What rules do you have a hard time following in the Bible? Why?2. Do you take the time to thank God for sending Christ to forgive us when we break the rules? comments powered by Disqus
