Rules, rules, rules....All I see are rules. If that is all that we see, we are completely missing the point when it comes to God and the Bible. The truth is that many people shy away from faith because of these "rules". I think it is fairly common knowledge that we, by nature, hate those rotten things. We like to do our own thing. We like to do it our way. "How dare anyone tell us how we should do anything? It's my life and I will live it how I want to."
As parents, it frustrates us when our children don't follow our rules. Certainly there is frustration because they are disobedient, but for me that frustration really comes because I wish they could see why I give them rules in the first place. I certainly don't give them rules to abide by to make life miserable. I give them rules for their own good.
All of that said, there are times in our lives that we espouse the ideology of "Do as I say, not as I do." We are grown-ups. Things are different for us. We know what life is all about and we know how to navigate anything life throws our way. We don't really need anymore rules. Sure we have the government that sets a few laws in our way, but we are capable of making our own choices.
While that may be true, some of our choices come with consequences because we "choose" not to follow some "rules" that another parent has given us. Do you think that our Heavenly Father sometimes can look down upon his children with frustration in his eyes? It is not a frustration that comes from the fact we choose to be disobedient. He, as a parent, is no different than us. I think His frustrations come from the fact that He wishes we would understand why He gave us "rules" in the first place.
As we continue on with "The Story" in chapter 5, we read one of the most famous stories of the Bible. This story conjures up images of Charlton Heston standing on a mountain with 2 huge stone tablets that contain some "rules" for the people of Israel. This weekend, we will take a look at the "Why" behind The Ten Commandments and we will discover that God is not some cosmic Kill-Joy, but a loving father that wants the best for his children.
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