I like rules!
I know, you all are bristling at the concept, wondering why you can’t run with scissors, swim right after you eat, or … cut your sister’s hair when she’s sleeping.
You’re thinking about how rules limit you, keep you from doing things you want to do—things that are fun.
But …
As I drive through a green traffic light, with the reasonable assurance another car won’t side swipe me because the driver on the other street is stopped at a red light, I ponder the greatness of the rule he follows.
And though I’ve complained about the timing of that SAME red light when I’m stuck in front of it, glancing at my watch because I’m late for work, I follow that rule even when no other car is coming.
Why?
Because it keeps me safe, it keeps the other guy safe, and it keeps my family safe even when I’m not the one driving the car.
It’s a good rule.
It seems futile sometimes to stop at a red light when we see no cars driving in the other direction, but since we can’t always see around the corner or as far ahead as we think we can, we stop at the red light anyway. We also know, that by breaking the rule, we will unleash the reasoning for others to follow suit … and you know they will.
Then the rule loses its credibility. And repercussions follow. Maybe you’ve seen what happens when traffic lights go out and there is no police officer available to direct the scene.
It ain’t pretty! A sort of every-man-for-himself kinda chaos! The type of craziness that will surely follow when people assume rules are unimportant or only for the other guy. The kind we are on the brink of as our world disregards The Words of our Creator more and more each day.
…
My kids like rules too, they just don’t know it yet.
Which ones do they like best? I really don’t know, but that one about not putting things into electrical sockets has really worked for them so far. They used to think I was mean. You know, limiting them from doing the thing they really wanted to do. Something about that hole in the wall just begged to be filled. But eventually they caught on to the reasoning behind it, and now they follow that rule every single day.
Go figure!
I don’t always understand God’s ways, you know, the things He expects of me. But then again, I cannot see around corners and far ahead like He can. So I trust Him, and seek to follow His leading.
Why?
Because He knows the ways of the world better than I do. He created them.
And …
He’s good.
Just Sayin’!
NEXT: See “Breaking Free of Wretched Rules”
