Rules!

Man it’s been a very busy morning. I just got back from the grocery store and I’m going to do some clothes and then take my kids swimming. Its ridiculous hot outside so why not take a dip to cool off. My son has wanted to swim all week so we are going. I had my quiet time and Jesus laid this message on my heart so I'm going to blog about RULES! Yes following the rules. When I played pee wee football my dad was the coach. I was 8 years old when I started and I feared my dads rules at home and especially on the football field. I remember one practice specifically he had put me in the right guard position and explained to me it was my job to protect the quarterback and open up holes for the running back. So I remember the first play of practice that day he told me to block and to stay in my spot! So when the ball was snapped I listened I knocked the guy I was supposed to block down and then I seen another player (linebacker) coming to the right of the guy beside me and he missed the block leaving the running back stuck! Yeah! I just stood there and he got tackled hard. You see I had listened to the rule my coach (dad) had set, stay in your spot is what he told me, I did just that. You know I've been in churches that set the same rules. We get so caught up in following the rules we miss the big picture. You see if I would have moved out of my spot and hit the linebacker my teammate would have gained some yards. I would say 90% of the rules I was told to follow when I was a youth were man made not biblical! You see Ephesians chapter 2 verses 8-10 tells us “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith- and is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are Gods workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. I think Paul said it right when he said this to the church in Ephesus! You see following Jesus is not difficult, it’s impossible! He gives us the gift of life because He knows we cannot follow all the rules! Only through him can we follow his will for our lives! One question for you! Are you so caught up in following rules that you are missing the big picture? The big picture is reaching people for Jesus whom he already has set aside for us to do, he prepared them in advance! Let’s face it if we tried to do everything people have told us we need to do to be more like Jesus, we would never be more like him. We would be so caught up in Ridiculous Rules we could not see his face and know what he has planned for us! Sometime today take a minute and get alone somewhere quiet and listen to God speak to you through the Holy Spirit don’t say anything to him just LISTEN! I’m going swimming now Love you and thanks for checking out my Blog!