Rules are simply suggestions. At least that is how my wife thinks my daughter and I think about them. She is probably more right than I care to admit. We are not big fans of people telling us what to do; rules just seem like one way people try to do that. So, we revolt as much as we can without causing too many issues. You can imagine the tension in our personalities when we are faced with reading a book like Deuteronomy. Rules. Lots of rules.
Instead of considering every single rule in the book, let’s just focus on the most famous ones. The 10 commandments. Do you remember them all? If not, here is a reminder:
1. You shall have no other gods before me.
2. You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.
3. You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
4. Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
5. Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
5. You shall not murder.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
The 10 rules for God’s people have been on statehouse walls, memorized by kids all across the land, and engrained in many of our memories for decades. It is probably important that we understand what these rules are. They are not a bad thing. And remember, this is coming from a guy who does not like rules! Think of them as guardrails. Guardrails exist, not to limit you, but to protect you. If your car rubs up against a guardrail, you know that you are in danger of some major trouble. On the other side of that guardrail is something you are not supposed to be driving on. The same is true for God’s rules. They are there to protect us. God’s rules are meant to keep us from living outside of what is good, right, and holy. As Christians, it is easy for us to look at the laws of God as unfair restrictions when, in reality, they are guardrails put in your life to keep you safe and on the right track to becoming more like Jesus. I get it, some of the rules in Deuteronomy are hard to understand and wrap our minds around but maybe it is not always so much about what they are keeping people from as much as they are about what they are protecting people from. As a rule-breaker, it is good to remind myself that rules are not in my life to harm me but to protect me. The same is true for the rules of God. They are there to protect His people and ensure that they live to the fullness of who God desires them to become.
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