There are times in my life when I have broken rules, but for the most part I try to follow the rules, especially when it comes to the Lord’s rules. I learned this from my mother. Nadine and I took her out for McDonalds today and we had an interesting conversation. Just a little backdrop on my mother. She is 100 and walks 1 to 1 1/2 miles a day. She lives in an assisted living facility and has her meals cooked for her, but she is self sufficient for all other needs. Her dining room always has cloth napkins and table cloths with fresh flowers. Every meal. That’s why when we come to see her she wants to go to McDonalds where there are no flowers, nor table cloths, nor cloth napkins.
Back to the story. I asked mom if she would run a red light if it were 2 am in the morning and no one was driving any of the roads and the red light wasn’t turning green. Would you wait for the light to turn green, or break the law and go for it. When it comes to the Lord’s rules, she is one of the most spiritual persons I know. But we were talking about a situation in which the circumstances conflicted with a traffic law. She said that she would go through the red light, but that my father wouldn’t. I’m like my mom. I would break the traffic rule. But God’s rules and commands are given for our benefit. It’s not that I break all laws, for I don’t. God gives us commands on how we are to act and live on this earth and all of his commands are good for us.
Solomon talked about commands, teaching and corrective discipline. He says, “For a command is a lamp, teaching is a light, and corrective discipline is the way to life.” Proverbs 6:23 CSB. Commands that come from God are specifically designed to give us a lamp to guide our steps when we can’t see our way. Teaching brings awareness and shines light on our ignorance. When we are going astray and making wrong decisions in life, corrective discipline stops us in our tracks and gets us back on the path to life. We need all three, commands, teaching, and corrective discipline, to help us to maximize our time here on this earth.
On this journey there will be times when we need to obey a command that God puts in front of us. There will be times when we need to submit to teaching to bring to light the dark places of our knowledge and insight. And there will be times when we need to be corrected regarding the wrong path we are taking. Submit to these truths and life will be ours in abundant measure.
