Rules Keep Us Safe
He replied, “Blessed
rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”
– Luke 11:28
He is such a cute little fellow. He looks up at me
with those big brown eyes. Hopeful eyes. He knows he has disobeyed – again. He
also knows I’ll forgive him – again.
Some days he minds what I say just perfectly. He goes
where he’s supposed to go. He comes when I call him. He follows every rule
perfectly.
Other days, well, not so much. He can’t seem to help
himself as he chases a calf around the pasture. His wandering feet lead him
where he isn’t supposed to go. The fun of it all keeps him from coming when he’s
called.
I know he doesn’t understand why I insist on his
obedience. He doesn’t realize that the rules are there for his safety. That calf
has a mama that can seriously hurt him in an instant. He doesn’t see that. He
doesn’t see the mama cow at all. He’s too intent on “playing” with the calf.
He also doesn’t see the danger in exploring areas away
from me and his siblings. He’s never seen a snake. He doesn’t know what a
coyote is. I tell him repeatedly not to engage anything. He doesn’t understand
that disobeying could cost him his life.
It’s another reason I insist he come when I call. I’m
not trying to dictate his every move. My intent isn’t to keep him from having
fun. It’s just that I see dangers he doesn’t understand and sometimes obedience
is the only way to keep him safe.
I wonder if that’s how God sees us. He’s set up rules,
the Ten Commandments and other guidelines, to keep us safe and happy. Still, we
push back against those boundaries. We make excuses. We venture where we are likely
to get hurt, changed, killed.
God tries to keep us safe but we don’t see that. We can’t
see the true freedom that comes when we walk His path. We focus on what is
denied and forget about all that is allowed. Like Eve in the Garden of Eden.
She lost sight of all the fruit she and Adam could eat and focused on the one
tree that was forbidden. She didn’t understand the cost until it was too late
to change course.
My little boy regularly gets put in timeout. He must
stay in the backyard alone while his siblings and I work on the farm. I don’t
know what he hates most: missing his adventures or being left behind. He gets
the point. He learns his lesson. At least, until the next time something
entices him to a place he’s not supposed to go.
We aren’t much different. We amble along, doing what
we want, telling ourselves that we are staying well within the boundaries
created by God. Until something seems too good to pass up. We’ll do whatever we
think we must because, after all, we “deserve” it. Then one day we wake and
realize that we’ve turned down a road we never intended to take.
God is faithful. He never changes. He always waits for
us to turn around, to cry out, to run toward His waiting arms. Just as I wait
for my little guy, just as I seek him out no matter what he’s done, God waits
for us. There is nothing that would ever keep Him from welcoming us home again.
God’s rules are meant to keep us safe, to cause us to
prosper and live in peace with others. We only harm ourselves when we move away
from what He only ever intended to be used to keep us safe.
