A young soldier
left home on Army deployment overseas. He told his girlfriend he would write
every day. After about six months, he received a letter from his girlfriend stating
she was getting married. He wrote home wanting to know who she was marrying.
The family wrote back and told him it was the…. mailman.
If a boy has a
part-time job after school, he’s called “a go-getter.” If the church asks him
to rise early on Saturday morning to spend a couple of hours doing some work
for the Lord, people might say, “That’s asking too much!” If a woman were to
work eight hours at some community project, people would say, “She’s a fine,
energetic, public-minded person.” But if she were to work eight hours for the
church, some would say, “Her religion has gone to her head!” If an employer
asks an employee to work each day, and not be tardy, some people will say, “He’s
a sensible businessman who requires that which is only right.” But if the
elders of the church ask the members of the church to attend three services
each week, and to please arrive on the scheduled time, some are ready to say, “You
ask too much. And besides, it doesn’t matter if I’m on time to services anyway.
If one wants a
good steak and baked potato, Outback Steakhouse, is probably a good choice. By
now most have heard their advertisements on the radio and television. After
making the pitch for their product, the announcer, in his Australian brogue,
says, “Outback Steakhouse. No rules. Just right.” That sounds great, doesn’t
it? There’s some appeal to a place where there aren’t any rules or restrictions
and no matter what, everything turns out all right.
One day it
dawned on me that many people have “Outback Religion.” When it comes to their
relationship with God, they want it to be “No rules. Just right.” They want to
be able to come to God on their own terms and yet have Him welcome them just
the same. More and more it seems we find people, who find comforting the
thought of having a meaningful relationship with God, who are unwilling to
follow the rules. I suppose it has always been so that many wanted God on their
terms, but it has always been true that Jehovah has never allowed mankind to
call the shots or make the rules. Either we come to Him as He wills, or we don’t
come at all. When one claims a relationship with God but want to keep their bad
habits, and ungodly practices, and sinful relationships then what their looking
for is an Outback Religion.
[Acts 20:25-30]
But God does have “rules” and here are three things to remember about them. 1)
“The Rules” Are God’s. The natural tendency is to “kill the messenger”
but we must realize that if one is speaking the truth, he is only a messenger
of the will of God. Jesus said, “If you love me, keep my commandments” (Jonn
14:21). To be sure, making our own rules is a violation of God’s will
(Revelation 22:18), but just as wrong is the ignoring of God’s law (Revelation
22:19). 2) The Rules Are For Our Own Good. Ultimately, what God requires
of us is in our best interest. Throughout the centuries of His dealings with mankind,
God has never forbidden something good for man, nor has He required something
harmful. 3) “The Rules” Will Judge Us. Whether we live by them or not, we
will be eternally judged by the will of God. Jesus said, “He who rejects me,
and does not receive My words, has that which judges him – the word that I have
spoken will judge him in the last day” (John12:48).
When we submit
ourselves wholly to living by the will of God, “He cleanses us of our sins” (1
John 1:7-9). One might say, when we live by God’s rules, He makes us just
right.