Rules of Life

     Life should not be so complicated!  It really isn’t.  Keep the rules and enjoy life.  Break the rules and trouble follows.  We just can’t break the rules of life.  What are the rules you ask.  Well, let’s look at a few.

1.       Whatever you sow, you reap.  This is a rule of life.  We read this rule over and over again in the Bible and still we sometimes think that we can sow one thing and reap another.  I recently planted some apple trees in my yard.  I don’t know very much about trees, but the tag on one of  the trees, said “Granny Smith Apple.”  Now in a few days I expect to see blooms, then leaves, and then apples.  To expect peaches or plums or oranges or bananas would be foolish.  Cindi and I have been married for 33 years.  We’ll celebrate our 34^th anniversary in September.  I have learned that sowing seeds of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control in our marriage produces the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  That is just the way it is.  This is a rule of life.  Also, the more you sow, the more you reap.  Likewise, the less you sow, the less you reap. 

I’m sorry to say that too many in our world today continue to reject this rule.  Hard living results in a hard life. 

2.        Marriage is one man and one woman for life.  This is a rule of life.  Break it and we’re in for a world of trouble.  In our society today, many are attempting to reject this rule and redefine marriage.  According to a recent poll I heard about on TV, a majority of Americans now believe that two women or two men should be able to get “married” and that this is an acceptable arrangement.  Think about it.  A culture can decide to accept the rules of life or not.  Their acceptance or rejection of the rules of life does not and cannot alter the consequences of their acceptance or rejection.  Divorce used to be the exception.  Now it seems that just about everyone you meet has been divorced at least once.  I was reading about a couple who had been married for many years, more than 60.  The wife was asked about her marriage and the answer to the longevity of her marriage.  She responded by saying, “My husband and I grew up in a time where when something breaks, we don’t just throw it away, we fix it.”  As a gospel preacher, much of my time is invested helping men and women “fix” what has been broken.  Satan is working hard to “steal, kill, and destroy” (John 10:10).  Jesus came to give us life, an abundant life.  We have a choice, life or death.  Oh that we may choose life.

3.        Salvation is by grace through faith.  This is a rule of life.  Salvation is not by grace only.  Salvation is not by faith only.  Salvation is by grace through faith.  God offers salvation to everyone through His Son Jesus Christ, grace.  This offer (grace) must be accepted (faith).  Unless God’s grace is extended, we cannot be saved.  Likewise unless God’s grace is accepted, we cannot be saved.  Doesn’t this make sense?  It does to me.  This is a rule of life.  Some oppose this rule of life.  Some people think they can save themselves outside of the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  They cannot.  Others think that they can live sinful selfish lives and still be saved.  They cannot.  Salvation is by grace through faith.  This is a rule of life.

4.       This is not found in the Bible per se, but this is also a rule of life.  If you play with fire, you’re going to get burned.  If you play in the mud, you’re going to get muddy.  If you play in the rain, you’re going to get wet.  If you speed, you’re going to get a ticket.  If you look for trouble, you’re going to find it.  This is just the way it is.  Fire should be respected.  Make sure you “respect” the lady or gentleman at work who seems to be extra friendly and nice to you.  Mud has its place in the world.  Pigs love it.  Dancing in the rain is a good movie title, but those who danced in the rain got wet.  And I don’t know if they ended up with a bad cold or not.  Speeding may be fun for the moment, but those blue lights in the rearview mirror certainly make for a bad day.  And when it comes to finding trouble, you don’t really have to look for it, trouble seems to find us.

Maybe we can escape the consequences of rule breaking for a time, but just know that eventually, today, tomorrow, next week, next month, the consequences of breaking the rules of life will catch up with us.

We have the Bible so that we may not sin (1 John 2:1).  How can we know the rules of life unless we get in the Book and stay in the Book, the Bible, specifically the New Testament, God’s word for us today (Hebrews 1:1-2)?  David wrote Psalm 1.  He said that the one is delights in the law of the Lord and meditates on the law of the Lord day and night will be blessed and will prosper in everything he does.  I want to be like a tree planted by the river.  Read Psalm 1 and keep the rules.