Rules…

Have you ever had a moment in life where there are no rules?

There probably isn’t a time in your life you didn’t have rules of some sort. And you always felt repressed by these rule probably. Even if they were meant to keep you safe, or protect you from something.  Like I remember my father telling us when I was young, “Go out and play in traffic, but don’t go out of the yard.” He allowed us to go and play in traffic, which us really insane, but we could only play in traffic if we could do it with out getting out of the yard. This was a rule that kept us safe.

We find rules in the Bible, in fact some would say it is full of them. We find the 10 Commandments at Exodus 20:1-17 and Deuteronomy 5:4-21. A list of 10 rules for us to follow.  And these to the other laws/rules in the Bible and we get more than 613 rules for us to follow… How would you like to try and remember all of these rules and try to keep them everyday?

But what are these rules for? Are they a way for us to be right with God? Are they a way for us to get grace or faith, or buy our way into heaven? Only the grace of God which is a gift can get us right with God, not following rules or keeping a list of laws that will get us there, or in a right relationship.

These rules are not something we have to strive to keep in order for us to be right with God, they are a list that shows us we are not God and why we need God. They help us realize it is not all about us, but we are in need of someone much greater than we will ever be.

So strive not to follow, but realize that you are loved and by letting go into that love freely flowing over you you will keep the rules with no problem…