In most places in the world, there are rules and regulations for almost everything. In Nebraska, if a child burps during a church service, the parents might be arrested.  It is unlawful in Arizona to have a sleeping donkey in your bathtub after 7 pm. New Jersey bans bullet proof vests while committing a crime. In our own state of Florida, it is illegal for unmarried women to parachute on Sundays so if any of you unmarried women out there were planning on jumping out of a plane in Florida on Sunday, you had better not. If you are married, go for it! These whacky laws are still on the books in these states and while they may seem silly and unnecessary now, at the time they were made, they must have been vital to keep the peace.

Have you ever wondered why there are so many rules and laws in our world?  I know when I was growing up, I wondered why there were so many rules at school, but after I became an educator, I wondered why there weren’t more. They were needed to govern the culture of the school. We need laws because we live in a land full of sin and if there a no limitations and boundaries, we would have destroyed ourselves long ago like other civilizations have done. 

The Israelites needed the Ten Commandments in the Old Testaments. They showed the people how to live and helped govern their nation. The laws in today’s world all come from the Ten Commandments as you will clearly see when you read them.  It is difficult to picture a world without laws and even more difficult to live in one.

One thing there is not a law against is what is good. There are not laws about how much kindness you can show a person, against how much love you can show someone and how faithful you can be. Laws are made to show the lawless how to live, but there is no law needed to show you how to do godly things for others. When you understand the concept of laws being needed to govern sin but not needed to govern the unconditional love we receive from God, you will find freedom to serve, praise and live in Christ!

Psalm 19:7-9 tells us The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.

Thanks be to God for this wonderful gift!

Patty