This week, we continued our "WHY?" series by tackling the question, 'Why are there so many rules in the Bible?" A lot of people look at the Bible as an old, irrelevant rule book, so we took a closer look at the difference between rules in the Old Testament and why Jesus encourages us to live a certain way in the New Testament.
NOT EVERY RULE IN THE BIBLE IS MEANT FOR YOU!
There are a lot of crazy rules in the Old Testament. Leviticus 19:19 says that we shouldn't wear clothes made out of two types of material. Leviticus 19:27-28 outlaws trimming your sideburns and getting tattoos. And let's not mention Leviticus 11:13's rule that we shouldn't eat bacon. These are usually the kinds of things people mention when they say that the Bible is irrelevant and out-dated, but as Christians, a lot of those rules aren't meant for us!
Particularly in the Old Testament, the majority of the rules were meant for the Jewish people at that particular time. These were the very first rules EVER. At that time, there were no laws, no police, no health code, no building codes- so a lot of the laws in the Old Testament were meant to ensure that the Jewish people would live by standards that would make them happy, healthy, safe, and close to God. Those laws also helped them stand out from some of the other nations around them who didn’t know or follow God and lived without any kind of morality. It’s crazy to think about, but some of the surrounding nations were even sacrificing their kids to their idols….so, it was a messed up world- and God was calling his kids to be different!
Now, that doesn’t meant that we should ignore all of the rules in the Old Testament. Most of them were given to the Jewish people for a reason....and some of those same reasons are relevant to us today. For example, the 10 Commandments not only remind us how God wants us to treat each other (no killing, stealing, lying etc...) but they also concern our relationship with him (don't worship fake gods).
FOLLOWING JESUS MEANS TRUSTING THAT HE KNOWS & WANTS WHAT'S BEST FOR US!
That said, as Christians (people who follow Jesus), it's the teachings of Jesus and the early church in the New Testament that are the most relevant to us. It's here that we're reminded that there is a right and wrong way to go through this thing called life, and that when we choose to go our own way instead of God's way (the definition of sin), it can hurt our relationship with him, it can hurt our relationship with others, and we simply won’t enjoy life the way our Creator designed it to be lived.
I shared a few stories from when I took woodshop in high school where there were a lot of people who didn't take the shop rules very seriously, and as a result, some serious accidents happened. While I wasn't one to break safety rules, I had the tendency to ignore the building plans and just make things up as I went along. While I had a few successes, I also created a few monstrosities (like the bathroom cabinet made completely with two-inch-thick pieces of wood or the desk I made that was so big, I had to cut the legs off just so I could fit it in my room).
In Matthew 7: 24-27, Jesus told a story about a couple of construction workers.
“Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching and ignores it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.”
The first guy in Jesus’ story was pretty smart. He followed the plans, and as a result, when a storm hit, his house stood firm on a strong foundation. The second guy might have thought the instructions were irrelevant or old fashioned, or maybe he simply wanted to do his own thing, but the end result was that when a storm came, his house was blown apart.
Jesus told that story because he wanted to convey the importance of not just recognizing that God has given us guidelines for living, but that it's WISE to actually put them into practice. When God tells us the right way and wrong way to live, we need to see those things as being INSTRUCTIONS DIRECT FROM THE MANUFACTURER. God spoke life into existence with just a word, he DESIGNED us, and we need to trust that God really does know and want what's best for us! In fact, Jesus himself said in John 10:10 that his purpose was to give us RICH AND SATISFYING LIVES! The whole point of God’s instruction manual isn’t to rob us of fun, but to help us through life, to point us in the right direction, to warn us of dangers, and to ensure that our relationship with him and others is healthy.
This is why Christians dig into the Bible so often. It's a part of what we do at youth group and church. It's something that (hopefully) we make time for during the week. It's full of things that challenge us and help us steer our lives in the direction that we were meant to go. It's meant for us to get through life with as few bumps, scrapes and regrets as possible. Part of being a Christian means FOLLOWING Jesus- living the way he directs us to live- choosing to let God call the shots in our lives, and trusting that he tells us how to live, not because he wants to suck the fun out of our lives, but because, as our CREATOR, he truly knows and wants the very best for us.
DISCUSSION FOR HOME
1. Share with your teens a time when you ignored the rules or guidelines to something (maybe a recipe, something you built, or even something your parents told you) and ended up with a disaster or really regretting it later. Can they relate? Have they ever decided to ignore rules (maybe as younger kids) and were nearly seriously injured? Talk about it.
2. Ask your teen about what they learned at youth this week. Do they know why there are so many rules in the Bible? Do they know why God cares how we live and why we should care about listening to what he says?
3. Encourage your teens to spend a few minutes reading and thinking about God's Word this week. Maybe that means having family devotions together? Maybe that means buying a devotional book to help them get the most out of that time? If they don't have something like that, point them towards one of the resources listed below. Tell them that, at least a couple of times during the week, you want them to tell you about what they read and what they think it means for their lives.
ONLINE DEVOTIONAL RESOURCES:
STUDENT DEVOS
DEVOZINE
FOR KIDS/YOUNGER TEENS: KEYS FOR KIDS
No comments:
Post a Comment