"Is God just trying to ruin all my fun?!?"
That's a statement I have heard in my office more than once as I've met with members of the church where I'm an associate pastor. I'm finding that the overriding thought behind that statement is that God is a big party pooper because he won't let us do the things we want to do.
I must admit, when I first surrendered my life to Christ, I questioned all the "rules" God was laying on me. There was stuff like "don't commit sexual immorality," "don't steal," "don't lie," "don't commit adultery," etc.
Now please understand, following the rules God gives us does nothing to secure our salvation. Salvation comes through a relationship with Jesus only.
I asked myself, "Have I joined a group of people who are constantly riddled with rules and can't live their own lives?" Then I began to understand what God is doing.
Here's an illustration I use with people in my office from time to time.
Imagine you and your spouse are in the kitchen one evening and your four year old child comes into the kitchen. There's a pot of boiling water on the front burner of the stove and your curious child begins to reach for the handle of that pot. What do you do next?
Most of you said, "I'd gentle grab my child's hand and keep her from pulling the boiling water onto herself. This would prevent her from hurting herself terribly. "
I agree with those of you who said that! And that's exactly what God is doing with us when he gives us these rules to live by. He's protecting us, like the wonderful parent he is, from certain harm.
God knows that when we engage in sex before marriage we suffer as a result. He tells us not to lie because he knows it harms us when we're eventually found out. He reminds us not to commit adultery because he knows the havoc it causes in our life as well as so many other people's lives.
When I was younger, I was pretty promiscuous. During my time of "sleeping around" I thought I was having a great time. But now that I can look back at that time in my life I see that it was actually harmful to me and to the women I slept with.
It's just like you as the parent in the kitchen. You know that the boiling water will hurt your child so you tell her not to mess with it. God knows that sex before marriage hurts us, even when we're "little children" and we want to do what we want! God gentle says, "Mike, I've lived a lot longer than you and I know what this is going to do to you. Trust me, you don't want to mess with this."
Thanks God.
