Unwritten Rules

Time to start fall decorating.
Time to get a bale of straw and some cornstalks for the area next to my front door.
Time to select pumpkins and gourds and festive mums.
Time to get out Patches, a scarecrow that my children named years ago.

The weather is getting cooler.
My kind of day.
The nights are getting chilly.
Perfect to get under a blanket in my comfy chair with some hot tea and read a good book.

Time for fall baking.
The scrumptious pumpkin bread with the dark chocolate chips.
Autumn bread pudding with fruit and nuts.
Mulled cider.

I called to find the bales I needed and dealt with a very interesting man.
Do you have bales of hay for fall decorating?
We do, but you don’t want it. You want a bale of straw; we have that, too.
Semantics, I said in my head and asked another question.

Do you have cornstalks yet?
No, you’re too early for cornstalks; you’re like Walmart, jumping ahead to Christmas.
I got his analogy, but I didn’t appreciate it.
I’m the woman who decorates for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving.

That’s when the Christmas music begins.
That’s when all the Christmas movies are watched.
I wanted to explain all of this to the man, but thought better of it.
I found a bale of straw and cornstalks elsewhere.

I began to ponder.
I pondered about these unwritten rules we have.
Who wrote them?
When did they begin?

You don’t wear white before Memorial Day or after Labor Day?
Who says?
You keep a mental calendar so you don’t get hasty and decorate too early.
Who decided on those dates anyway?

My oldest daughter literally wore out a tape of Christmas music when she was little.
She played it all year round.
She would sing along, which was never a problem to me.
I was a bit sad when she outgrew it and played the songs only in December.

What about the Hallmark channel having Christmas in July?
What about the countdown to Christmas movies which begins in November?
I don’t think the man I talked to this morning would appreciate that one bit.
No, not one bit.

Do you ever consider all the unwritten rules we live by?
Some are self-imposed.
Some are passed down as family traditions.
Some we don’t remember how they began in the first place.

That was a problem in Jesus’ time as well.

We are told in Scripture not to add to or subtract from God’s Word.
God’s Word is complete.
Often the Pharisees and the teachers of the law put excessive burdens on the people.
Burdens that God never intended.

The law that God gave to Moses was never designed to save us.
The law was only to point us to our sin and our need for a Savior.
The Pharisees, with their legalistic attitude, were all about keeping the law.
Not God’s law as much as the man made laws with which they burdened the people.

Then Jesus said to the crowds and to His disciples: “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy loads and put them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them…Woe to you teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to…Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices – mint, dill, and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law – justice, mercy, and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter without forgetting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside will also be clean. Woe to you teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like white-washed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
(Matthew 23:1-4,13,14,23-28)

Jesus had scathing remarks about the appearance of righteousness.
Jesus had no time for hypocrisy.
Jesus followed God’s law all the time, perfectly and without sin.
Jesus broke man’s law every chance He got.

Jesus healed on the Sabbath.
He spent time with tax collectors and sinners.
He touched dead bodies and raised them to life.
He picked grains of wheat to eat on the Sabbath.

Jesus had no unwritten rules.
Jesus had only God’s rules to follow.
He did so perfectly.
He did so without sinning.

We put burdens on each other that are too heavy to bear.
We have our clipboards to check off how we are doing.
We have our clipboards to check off how others are doing as well.
That is never what God intended.

Legalism gets you nowhere.
We are to follow Jesus.
He is the only One who has ever kept the law perfectly.
Trusting in Him and His righteousness is all we ever need.

Throw away the clipboard.
Throw away the mental calendar.
Follow God’s law and when you sin, confess and repent and continue to follow Jesus.
That is all that God requires of us.

He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:8)

 

2 responses to “Unwritten Rules”

1. Awesome. Thanks, Reggie! 🙂 You ended it with one of my favorite quotes from the Bible. Great advice – if everyone would just love tenderly and walk humbly with our God, how great would this world be? Thanks again for last night. You are the perfect hostess. I am beat at work today, but it was so worth it! I had a wonderful time. God bless.

   Reply

   • Barb, I love that verse too! You are right, if we followed God and what He says in His Word, we would love the way He wants us to love. I enjoyed our evening last night as well. Good friends picking up right where we left off! What a blessing.

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