Rules

When our children were young, we had to teach them everything.  I remember teaching my son what “hot” was.  I put his little hand on the stove and said “hot”.  Before you accuse me of neglect, it was the side of the stove, and it was only warm; not hot enough to burn him.  But he got the idea.  I pulled the car over to the side of the road and showed my two young children a dead dog.  I told them, “If you run out into the road, this might happen to you.  Don’t go into the road!”  They were wide-eyed and duly shocked.  Hey, did I do that to scare them?  Ye, I did.  I wanted them to be afraid of the road and what might happen to them if they went into the road.  Hey, God gives us warnings in His Word for the same reason.  God isn’t mean.  God doesn’t think up rules to make our lives miserable.  God loves us and wants us to be safe and happy.  God has good reasons for each of His commandments.  And if we follow His commandments, we will be happy.  Just like my children, God warns us of danger that will ruin our lives.  Solomon said in Proverbs 3:5&6, “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”  Trust God.  Obey His Words, and you will live a happy life … in this world and in the world to come.