02/11/2012
How do you interpret God's Biblical instructions? Do you see Him as intolerant? So many times God is falsely viewed as some distant Cosmic Killjoy. But think about it, when we were young our parents would teach us rules, right? Rules like not playing in the street or not doing certain immoral behavior that they knew would bring negative consequences. Remember how sometimes the rules seemed like a burden, like our parents must have invented them to keep us from doing the things we really wanted to do- the things we thought would bring us contentment? Now were they being self centered and narrow minded? What if the rest of our friends were allowed to do unsafe practices (like we often lied that they were), could we rightly rebuke our parents judgements? Of course not! As we grow up we learn how important those rules were, how we could have been seriously injured or even killed if we had not obeyed. Like our parents growing up, God gives us commandments to help keep us focused on what is most important and how to stay safe. All of His guidance is meant to keep us safe, help us stay close to Him and, in the end, to give us more freedom and happiness. The word "commandment" might make us think of the Ten Commandments a list of "Thou Shalt Nots," But God does not only tell us what we should not do, but He also tells us what we should do. His greatest hope is for our eternal happiness, so we can be sure that His commandments are not restrictive rules, but they are divine guidance meant to protect us from harm and lead us to better ways of living. How do you view God's commands? I know there are many things I did before Christ in my supposed "liberty" that I'm now ashamed of. If we would all just adhere to the one true way, the way of the Bible, this world would be a better place. THE BIBLE WORKS.
"I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life" (1Jn.5:13).
