I’m a rule follower.
I may talk big and occasionally do some crazy, spontaneous things, but at heart – I follow the rules.
Wait in line over here? Okay.
Avoid that parking area? No problem.
Leave the mattress tag alone? You betcha.
Whether due to a strict upbringing or years spent following rules in a small missionary boarding school or a simple dislike of chaos, I have discovered that in most instances, behaving in an orderly fashion is the best practice. Leave it at that — I generally follow the rules.
Rule-followers typically disdain rebels. We pity them for their choices but inwardly smile as we watch them receive consequences from their actions.
While Christians are not expected to abide by the laws and restrictions of the ancient Jewish faith, God HAS provided guidelines for each of us to follow. In reading His Word and imitating the life of Christ, we become more like our Savior, more pleasing to God.
God’s Word also clarifies some of the consequences facing those who choose NOT to obey these principles of holy living. The psalmist spoke of such rebels when he wrote of kings and rulers choosing to break the shackles and chains placed around them by their Creator (Psalm 2: 1-3). Rather than viewing God’s laws of Truth as loving protections, their sinful, alienated hearts chose to imagine that God was cruelly stopping them from enjoying life. In throwing off God’s guidelines, they reaped tragic consequences.
Throwing off hindrances is not always wrong. We CAN be “good rebels.”
Romans 12:1-3 encourages believers to remember that, watched by a heavenly audience, we should “throw off everything that hinders us” as we run with endurance a race of obedience to God’s Word. This type of “revellion” is the good kind, in which we dispense restraints placed on us by sin.
God delights in this type of rebel! He wants us to see that the ramifications of our disobedience far outweigh any temporary pleasure we may derive from that rebellion.
Decide today to be both a spiritual rule follower as well as an obedient rebel.
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