Rules, Rules, and More Rules!
When I was younger I remember a time when I began wondering why there were so many rules. I just did not get it! I mean it seemed like there was a rule against anything and everything that was fun. One such rule for my siblings and me growing up was that only two people could jump on the trampoline at a time. The problem with this was that there were three of us kids! Someone did not get to jump, while the other two did. Sure, we came up with games where all three of us could get involved, but I still did not understand why my parents would not let more than two jump at a time. I always had to explain to my friends that only two at a time could be on the tramp...even though I didn’t quite get why. I even remember my great grandma Eva Shively, who was the nicest woman you would ever meet, having rules. One of her rules was that if we were going to get a pop sickle out of her freezer then we had to find someone else to split it with (since they came in packs of two). Why couldn’t we just eat both if we wanted to? Why did there have to be rules against all of these harmless things? Don’t touch the stove...look both ways before crossing the street...etc. I may not have known why my parents said to do certain things, but I did know that they loved me and so I wanted to obey because I loved them. Today I now know why there had to be so many “rules” for me to follow...and it all comes down to a four letter word called love.
You see, when I was younger I didn’t have a clue why my parents said to do or not do certain things. But now that I am older I know that it is because they loved me. They told my siblings and me not to jump with more than two on the trampoline at a time because there was a higher chance of someone falling off and/or getting hurt in different ways. My great grandma Shively didn’t let us have more than one pop sickle because she knew that it was too much sugar for us kids to have at once. These rules ended up being for my own health and safety, even though I didn’t understand why I had to obey them. I now think about Yahweh...the creator of Heaven and Earth...the one who cares about us more than any other person ever could...does His love for us mean that He wants what is best for us...does it mean that He cares about our daily lives...does it mean that He also has rules for us as believers to follow? The answer shouldn’t surprise you, but YES!
Yahweh’s love for us surpasses any kind of love that humans can offer because HE is love. This divine love also comes with divine instruction. How do we then show love in return? By obedience! But don’t simply take what I have to say, but look to the scriptures. In John 14:15 Yeshua says, “If you love me, obey my commandments”. Then again in 1 John 5:3 it says, “Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome.” There are several verses which say this same thing over and over....and that is loving Yahweh means we will do what he says. There are several things that Leslie and I do that make some people’s eyebrows raise. They wonder why we don’t eat certain foods...why we don’t work on Saturday...why we keep Passover and other Biblical festivals. The answer is: Just like our parents, God is our Heavenly Father who knows what is best for us.
We have decided that we are going to be posting several of our beliefs in a series. We are not doing this to condemn others, but because there are some who have no clue what we believe and really don't feel comfortable coming to us to ask, while there are others who believe that we are trying to be Jewish and/or Legalistic! But nothing could be further from the truth! And so now we ask you brothers and sisters, that you would "...test the spirits, whether they are of God..." (1 John 4:1)
Posted by: Jeremy Gipe
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