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Monday, February 16, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Breaking the Rules
A few nights ago I broke one of my rules and it stretched me. It felt uncomfortable and wrong at first. My mind was telling me that it was wrong and my emotions dispensing anxiety like a slot machine hitting triple lucky sevens. It could not be right for me to do it since it felt so wrong. I suppressed the voice in my head that was screaming, "NO, DON'T DO IT BUD!" I pushed back the anxiety that I was feeling for what I was about to do. The battle in my mind was furious. Over the years I have heard a few preachers say that if it feels wrong and your mind is saying don't, you better not do it. This felt wrong and my mind was saying don't but I did it anyway.
You may be wondering what I did. Let me tell you. We went to a movie (that's not it) a few nights ago and I have had a hard and fast rule for years that no popcorn can be eaten out of the bag or bucket until the movie starts. Carla has tried to tell me in the past that the legal point for popcorn eating is when the previews start. She can be tricky but I wasn't born yesterday and a rule is a rule.
On this night something happened that caught my attention. I saw Carla get some popcorn out of Joshua's bag during the previews. At that moment, the temptation to let her have some out of our bag hit me with full force. I was about to break a rule that I have held for years and it didn't feel right but it was very right. I leaned over and whispered to her that she could have some of our popcorn before the movie starts. She looked twice to make sure she wasn't sitting by the wrong man. Nope, it was her man, the rule breaker!
I have discovered over the years that we Christians are notorious for making up rules (more religious than the popcorn rule) that have no basis in the scriptures but we tend to hold to them as if our spot in heaven depended on it. We also tend to hold others to our rules. It is almost as if we need to keep a lot of rules to feel like God loves us. That is not unlike the Pharisee's of Jesus earthly ministry. Not only did they have the Law to adhere to but they added their own rules to the Law to make them feel more holy. When Jesus broke some of their rules they were very upset and it solidified for them that he couldn't be the Messiah. Surely the Messiah wouldn't break their religious rules would he? He would and he did!
I think one rule that we could all stand to keep without breaking it is the rule of not judging others based on our self-imposed and sometimes self-righteous rules. Also, know that some of the religious rules we establish in our minds, that have no biblical foundation, can make us feel like we are doing something wrong if we break them. The very right thing to do is break them and our dependence on them for a right standing with God. Religious rule keeping doesn't make us more holy, more acceptable to God, or more loved by God. As a matter of fact, it can take us further away from the true Holiness of God. The more we depend on rule keeping (like the Pharisee's) to find acceptance with God, the less we trust in the grace of God through Christ.
If you want to be free to know and walk with Jesus, embrace the words of the apostle Paul, "...not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ - the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith."
You may be wondering what I did. Let me tell you. We went to a movie (that's not it) a few nights ago and I have had a hard and fast rule for years that no popcorn can be eaten out of the bag or bucket until the movie starts. Carla has tried to tell me in the past that the legal point for popcorn eating is when the previews start. She can be tricky but I wasn't born yesterday and a rule is a rule.
On this night something happened that caught my attention. I saw Carla get some popcorn out of Joshua's bag during the previews. At that moment, the temptation to let her have some out of our bag hit me with full force. I was about to break a rule that I have held for years and it didn't feel right but it was very right. I leaned over and whispered to her that she could have some of our popcorn before the movie starts. She looked twice to make sure she wasn't sitting by the wrong man. Nope, it was her man, the rule breaker!
I have discovered over the years that we Christians are notorious for making up rules (more religious than the popcorn rule) that have no basis in the scriptures but we tend to hold to them as if our spot in heaven depended on it. We also tend to hold others to our rules. It is almost as if we need to keep a lot of rules to feel like God loves us. That is not unlike the Pharisee's of Jesus earthly ministry. Not only did they have the Law to adhere to but they added their own rules to the Law to make them feel more holy. When Jesus broke some of their rules they were very upset and it solidified for them that he couldn't be the Messiah. Surely the Messiah wouldn't break their religious rules would he? He would and he did!
I think one rule that we could all stand to keep without breaking it is the rule of not judging others based on our self-imposed and sometimes self-righteous rules. Also, know that some of the religious rules we establish in our minds, that have no biblical foundation, can make us feel like we are doing something wrong if we break them. The very right thing to do is break them and our dependence on them for a right standing with God. Religious rule keeping doesn't make us more holy, more acceptable to God, or more loved by God. As a matter of fact, it can take us further away from the true Holiness of God. The more we depend on rule keeping (like the Pharisee's) to find acceptance with God, the less we trust in the grace of God through Christ.
If you want to be free to know and walk with Jesus, embrace the words of the apostle Paul, "...not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ - the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith."
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