-“‘Follow my decrees and be careful to obey my laws, and you will live safely in the land.'”
–Leviticus 25:18
-…but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm.
–Proverbs 1:33
-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.
–Psalm 19:7-8
1988, Student Union, University of North Dakota…
I was sharing my faith with a classmate, my hands and arms gesticulating with passionate abandon.
“Man, I’m sorry,” he drawled, legs draped over the side of his chair, “too many rules…thou shalt not this and thou shalt not that. Not for me.”
I wasn’t saved at the time, but even so, I had a healthy respect for the Ten Commandments. To me, they seemed, well, reasonable. Honor your father and mother, don’t steal…they just rang true. There was this…rightness about them; you felt peace when you followed them, and downright icky when you didn’t. And no idols? Definitely not too much to ask of the Israelites, who He’d created and then delivered out of slavery and sustained in the desert (on the way to their Promised Land, hello!)…only to have them go worship a cow instead! I mean, I love cows, but seriously?!
What a slap in the Face.
And here’s this dude saying, centuries later, like those wayward Hebrews, “Rules…buzz killers, bro.”
The only retort I could muster up was, “Yeah, okay, but they’re good rules. You gonna argue with any of them?”
Dismissive hand flick.
Too many rules…really?
Back in the day my students would lament, long and loudly, to the level of Job, about all the UNFAIR RULES in our building…
“Why do I need a lav pass? Why do we have to wear uniforms? Why aren’t cell phones allowed?”
We’ve all seen what happens in a middle school, heck, any school, when there’s no standards, no structure, no enforcement…where the inmates have taken over the asylum, so to speak.
Chaos.
Just the way the enemy likes it.
Speaking of chaos…
The Jersey Turnpike…a superhighway with ample traffic laws, speed limits, road signs, and patrols.
Still, a cross between NASCAR and Mad Max.
Sammy would say, “I can’t drive 55!”
And, as another song goes, we were born to be wild (well, not from the onset, but, um, there was this serpent and apple thing). We “kick against the goads,” even if, even when it hurts us.
The other day I’m praying about this, because despite my trust in God and His instructions, I find myself in Paul’s shoes…
I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. (Romans 7: 15)
“Lord, I literally watch myself getting ready to say or do something, and I tell myself not to, and then I watch myself do it! And I’m like, here I go again! Why, Lord, why?!”
He pulls me into a one-arm hug. “Shelbo, first of all, read just a little further there…
For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I can not carry it out. (Romans 7:18)
Girl, you are human. Quit beating yourself up, and don’t try to do it alone…because you can’t, and I don’t expect you to. We’re in this together. I’m here.
Second, my rules are meant to be a fence, not a cage.”
“Woah…YES!!!!” I shouted.
You know what is a cage?
Sin.
For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. (Romans 7: 22-23)
It’s such a clever lie, such an ingenious trap. You think you’re in control. You don’t see the danger. And you don’t see those bars, until you’re well and truly caught.
In contrast, look at a fence…
Before we moved to the farm, we had a house in town, on a very busy street. I had always, before I could even speak, unerringly obeyed the directive to stay on the property and off the road. Then came my little brother Joe. Every chance he had to “bumble into the beyond,” he did…resulting in screeching tires and near-death experiences. A move to the backyard, with its thick, unyielding hedge, should’ve been enough…
Squeal!!!! HOOOONK!!!
So Dad, like the good farmer he was, wove chicken wire through the shrubbery. Problem solved.
Were my parents trying to stifle Joe’s spirit of adventure, hobble his movements, be total “buzz killers?”
His tiny three-year old body had a huge area to explore, with several playground implements of destruction available. Trees to climb. Critters and bugs. A sandbox and a mud patch.
It was a fence, not a cage. He was safe from harm, and free.
That’s what God gave us, when He gave us His commandments…
When He gave His only Son.
Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8: 1-2)
We are safe, we are saved, we are set free.