What Law?
By Doug Bing, Washington Conference president
Did you know that it is illegal to build a sand castle in Spain? Doing so can get you a hefty fine.
Did you know that is Switzerland it is illegal to ride a cow while drunk? Having been around lots of cattle in my years, I am not sure why you would want to ride one at all.
In Alabama you are not allowed to wear a fake mustache to church if it makes people laugh. Apparently, you are allowed to wear one if no one laughs.
Have you ever wondered why the chicken crossed the road? Well in Georgia there is a law on the books that makes it illegal for a chicken to cross the road – I guess you will never find out.
And if you love Winnie the Pooh you better not wear a shirt or any other item of clothing with dear old Winnie on it in Poland.
There are some pretty strange laws out there.
Many of them may have actually made sense at one time or another. Some may still make sense in some places. There are some laws that really get under your skin as well. You no doubt have a few that you can think of that really annoy you.
Have you ever thought about the laws you keep and didn’t even know that they were there? Most of us keep so many laws without even a thought that we are in fact keeping a law either that is written in the legal jargon of our system or that is a commonsense law or a moral law that just makes sense.
For example, most of us automatically keep the law that says don’t kill another person. We also don’t think much about that law. It just is something that we do.
God has always had a system of living that just makes sense.
Sadly we have called them laws which don’t really encapsulate what the Ten Commandments were really meant to be. God meant them to be the outgrowth of a relationship with Him and not to be viewed from a legalistic view.
Notice the quote from Ellen White.
When Satan rebelled against the law of Jehovah, the thought that there was a law came to the angels almost as an awakening to something unthought of.
That is really the way that we all should think of and relate to the Ten Commandments.
The angels were so in love and in such a strong relationship with God that it was a new thought to even realize that there were laws that they lived by.
They just lived daily in a relationship with their Maker with love and devotion that the laws were not hung on the wall as a reminder of the rules of life. They just had God’s will written in their mind and heart and lived for God.
As we continue growing in Jesus each and every day, God’s relationship ideals will not be considered commandments but instead will become part of the fabric of our lives. May that be your experience as you walk with God.