And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” Genesis 2:16-17
Rules and regulations are something that can be found everywhere one goes. The number of regulations varies from one place to another. Some are filled with many rules, while others only have a few. People often see rules as restrictions, limiting their freedom.
Moses records God telling Adam that he could eat of every tree in the garden except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If he ate of that tree he would die.
On the surface having a lot of rules and regulations appears to always limit how much freedom one has. Looking at the negative side, it tells one what one is not allowed to do. There is often nothing pointing out all the good things that can be done in the place of not doing something else.
People quickly focus on what they are not allowed to do rather than looking at the myriads of possibilities of what they could do. The world sees God as limiting them in living life to their fullest. Many in the church can also get caught up in that same type of thinking.
Just as God allowed Adam to eat of all the trees except one, God also allows believers to do many things despite limiting with a few rules. The rules God puts in place are to give life, not take it away. It is to protect one from what is wrong, rather than limiting what is good.
One must embrace God’s rules to live life fully, not ignore them to bring about death.
Everywhere you go there are rules that are set in place to govern you to some degree or more. God has also set some rules in place to guide you. His rules are to keep you safe from sin and death, not to restrict your freedom to live life. Look at the many things God allows you to do rather than the few things He says do not do. All these rules are to bring you life, not death. There is true life in doing what is good that cannot be found in doing sin.
Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Lord and Savior; that you will know what God has commanded you to not do; that you will see the freedom you have in Christ to do good; and that you will do the good God has given you to do rather than living in sin.
Photo by Markus Krisetya on Unsplash
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