We are walking in today: Encore!! Encore!! Understand & Obey the Laws of the King!!
Witness understand throughout the Bible: H8085 shama'--to hear with attention or interest, listen to, to be regarded, be obeyed, to cause to be heard
1 Kings 3:11 And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies;
but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern H8085 judgment;
The Torah testifies...............
Deuteronomy 4:6 Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear H8085 all these statutes, and say, Surely this great
nation is a wise and understanding people.
The prophets proclaim..................
Nehemiah 8:2 And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear H8085 with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month.
The writings bear witness...........................
1 Kings 3:9 Give therefore thy servant an understanding H8085 heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?
Proverbs 1:5 A wise man will hear, H8085 and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:
Understand and Obey the Laws of Limitation
Freedom without law is anarchy. Liberty without responsibility is irresponsibility.
The morning sun shimmered brightly on the choppy waves of the bay as a small motor boat moved slowly over the water. Perhaps 200 yards away, 14 swimmers plied through the chilly waters. Twenty men and women had begun the race that morning, but six had been pulled from the water into one of the many boats that lined the course. Exhaustion, muscle cramps, or some other malady had taken them from the race even before the swimmers had reached the mid-way point.
Just now the swimmers were bunched more closely than they had been for some time. As the far shore came into sight the competitors appeared to reach into their resources and pull with greater power and precision. Between them and the beach lay their greatest test, an area of swift-moving currents that had carried many a swimmer far toward the sea before he had been rescued or finally had given up and drowned.
Of the 14 swimmers in the water, 13 had swum the bay before. They knew from experience the dangers of the currents. Although those who watched from the boats kept an eye on the veterans, it was the one rookie swimmer they watched most closely. Just now he was in the lead, several hundred yards ahead of the pack.
Would he heed the warnings and follow the instructions he had been given to swim up the coast a piece before attempting to cross the swift-moving channel? If he did, he would win the race easily. If he did not, thinking that he didn’t want to waste the time to swim parallel to the shore, or that he was strong enough to meet the currents head on, they were ready to move quickly to rescue him. All watched anxiously to see what he would do.
As the rookie neared the buoys that marked the swift-running water, it appeared for a moment that he would stay within the marked course and swim upstream. He had not moved more than 20 yards, however, when he turned and swam directly toward the shore. Instantly, motors sprang to life and two boats sped across the water to the now-struggling swimmer. These were Coast Guard boats manned by experienced rescuers.
Later that afternoon when all the swimmers had reached the beach—including the rookie, who had been brought in by a Coast Guard cutter—the winner of the race approached the young man who had nearly drowned. “Why did you change your mind?” he asked. “The officials told me that you started to follow the path marked out for us, but then you suddenly veered toward the shore.”
“Those 20 yards that I swam upstream against the current were so easy that I thought all the fuss about that channel was just so much hype. So I decided to cut through it to win the race by a large margin. I soon realized that not only wouldn’t I win the race, I wouldn’t even finish it. For an instant I felt so dumb for throwing away the race, but then I realized that I had jeopardized my life as well. I’ll never try this again.”
Oh, I think you should enter the race again next year,” said the veteran racer. “You’re a magnificent distance swimmer. Just follow the rules the next time and you’ll find that the crossing point determined by the race organizers is challenging, but not life-threatening. Each year that point is different because the currents constantly change, so we all have to follow the prescribed course. One year we didn’t race at all because the officials couldn’t find a safe place to cross the channel. I wanted to talk them into sponsoring the race anyway, but I knew that would be foolish. Most likely no one would have finished anyway. Well, I hope to see you next year. It’s about time someone beat me. For a while I thought this would be the year.”
How sad! Although the rookie swimmer had the potential to beat the veteran, he lost the race, and nearly his life, because he chose to veer from the assigned course. He exercised his freedom to go his own way. This grasping for freedom is a universal tendency. To maximize your potential, you must understand the concept of freedom and the principle of law.
We Want to Be Free
The cry “We want to be free!” has swept our world in remarkable and frightening ways within the past decades. Particularly in Eastern Europe, the desire for freedom has brought sweeping revolutions, toppling governments and power structures that have repressed and oppressed many peoples. This same yearning for freedom prompts pregnant women to abort their babies, children to take their parents to court, and students to seek greater control over the measures of discipline used in their schools.
Freedom! It sounds so good. Everybody wants freedom. Ethnic groups, social groups, religious groups. Children, youth, adults. All want the right to determine their own lives and to make their decisions without guidance or interference from anyone else.
It should not surprise us, then, that many common phrases express this craving for freedom: Freedom of the press, Freedom of choice, Freedom of religion, Freedom of speech. All reveal the universal longing to be unencumbered by the dictates and the decisions of others.
Nothing Is Free
Is this truly possible? Can we be entirely free? No, I don’t think so. Nothing is free. Although advertising tries to convince us that we are getting something for nothing—buy one, get one free—we are still paying for the product the advertiser claims is free. In a similar manner, the cost of sweepstakes and prizes given to entice consumers to buy a particular product or to subscribe to a certain periodical is built into the company’s price structure somewhere along the way. We cannot get something for nothing. Nothing is free. We cannot get something for nothing.
This axiom is also true in relationships. We cannot be entirely free to do what we want, when we want, where we want, how we want, and with whom we want. Freedom always has a price because the actions of one person restricts and influences the freedom of another. The woman who aborts her baby takes away the baby’s freedom to live, and the student who slaps the teacher who reprimands her takes away the teacher’s freedom to keep order in his classroom. Freedom without responsibility cannot be freedom for all who are involved.
The Consequences of Freedom Without Responsibility
Lawlessness is the freedom to do whatever we want, when we want, with whom we want, with no one telling us to stop. In essence, we defy the standards that govern society to become a law unto ourselves with no sense of responsibility toward anything or anyone. For example, you may choose the freedom to smoke marijuana behind your house at three o’clock in the morning. You know you are breaking the law, but you choose to disregard the law and to exercise your freedom to do as you please. Lawlessness always results in slavery, death, and the loss of preexisting freedoms. Adam and Eve’s experience in the garden verifies this truth. Freedom without law is bondage.
The Loss of Freedom
When The Most High created the man and the woman and placed them in the garden, He gave them the following instructions:
You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die (Genesis 2:16b-17).
They were free to eat from any tree in the garden, but one.
When the serpent convinced the man and the woman to eat from this one tree, The Most High put them out of the garden and they lost the freedom to eat from the garden’s other trees. Their desire to be freed from The Most High’s restrictions cost them the freedom He had given them to eat from the other trees in the garden. Thus, the first penalty of freedom without responsibility is the loss of existing freedoms.
This proves to be true in all life. The teenager who stays out past his curfew loses his privilege to use the family car. The mechanic who charges exorbitant rates loses the customers he is in business to serve. The worker who takes 30 minutes for a 10-minute break loses the freedom to leave her desk without punching the time clock. The politician who forgets his campaign promises and breaks faith with the people who put him in office loses his reelection bid and the opportunity to serve his constituents.
Slavery
Slavery is a second consequence of freedom without responsibility. When the man and the woman disobeyed The Most High and ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they became slaves to evil.
Before their rebellion against The Most High, Adam and Eve knew only good because their knowledge came from their relationship with The Most High, who is good. In the moment of sin, their spirits became separated from The Most High’s Spirit and they became slaves of rebellion, the root of all sin. They could no longer see and do what The Most High requires. This loss of the ability to see and do what is right is always a result of choosing to place oneself above the law.
Thus, the teenager who regularly stays out past his curfew comes to expect that this is his right, the mechanic who charges exorbitant rates loses sight of fairness, the worker who takes an extended break assumes the company owes her this, and the politician who breaks faith with
those who elected him fails to see the error of his ways. Each becomes so enmeshed in his rebellious attitudes and actions that he can no longer see the wrong of his actions. Death inevitably follows.
Death
The third consequence of freedom without responsibility is death. Notice that The Most High connected the violation of the boundary around the tree of the knowledge of good and evil with death: “...for when you eat of it you will surely die” (Genesis 2:16). Disobedience to law always results in death.
The teenager who indulges in late hours will eventually see the death of his parents’ trust. The mechanic who takes whatever he can get will soon experience bankruptcy and the death of his business.
Likewise, the worker who extends her break and the politician who neglects to fulfill his promises will suffer the death of their dreams for advancement and recognition. Death is the inevitable result of freedom grasped at the expense of obedience to law.
Death is the inevitable result of freedom grasped at the expense of obedience to law.
The Nature of Law, Commands, and Demands
Merriam Webster’s dictionary (10th Collegiate, 1994) defines law as “a binding custom or practice of a community: a rule of conduct or action prescribed or formally recognized as binding or enforced by a controlling authority; a rule or order that is advisable or obligatory to observe.” It further observes that law “implies imposition by a sovereign authority and the obligation of obedience on the part of all subject to that authority.” Thus, a law regulates and governs the behavior of someone or something.
A command is an “order given” or an authoritative directive. It “stresses the official exercise of authority” and expresses the will of the authority based upon the established rules and regulations that govern the group. Thus, a commandment specifies behavior relative
to a law.
A demand is “the act of asking with authority.” It is based on the recognized authority of the one who asks, and it builds upon a previous command or commandment. Thus, a demand assumes that the requester has the right to make the request, and it specifies behavior in a specific instance or circumstance.
Let’s use family life to illustrate these principles. As the head of the home, the father may establish the law that the privacy of each individual is ensured. This is a given within the structure of the family.
Then he may issue the command that all members of the family should knock on a closed bedroom door and wait for the bidding “come in” before entering that room. This is his mandate or commandment relative to the principle of ensuring the privacy of each individual. Finally, when a daughter in the household is upset because her brother constantly enters her room when she is on the phone, the father may demand that the son knock on his sister’s door and wait for her response.
Law Provides Direction for Daily Life
The Most High has established many laws that influence our lives. Some of these govern the physical world in which we live; others control our relationships within the human family and with The Most High Himself. For example, The Most High has established marriage as the structure in which sexual relationships should be enjoyed and children should be raised. That is His law. “You shall not commit adultery” (Exodus 20:14) is one of His commandments built on that law. Hence, when
The Most High demands that you should not gratify your physical desires by engaging in intercourse outside the marriage relationship, He is applying to daily life the law He established at creation and the commandment He gave at Mount Sinai. He is specifying how we should behave in a given situation.
The Most High’s demands are always based on His laws and commandments. He is not capricious, nor is He out to destroy our pleasure. He knows that we cannot fulfill our potential outside His laws, so He gives us commandments relative to those laws and He makes demands on us that apply His commandments to our situation. If we resist His demands, we bring upon ourselves the natural consequences of His laws. The law of love is a good example of this principle.
The Most High created us to be loved by Him and to love Him and others in return. Love is an innate quality of His nature and of ours. The commandments “Love each other as I have loved you” (John 15:12), and “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44b) direct our efforts to understand and apply that law of love to our lives. When we disregard this law, we bear the consequences of loneliness, alienation, and internal turmoil that naturally come to those who fail to love.
We cannot choose whether or not these consequences will come to us, since they are inseparable from the law. Our only choice is whether or not we will love. Thus, we see that The Most High’s commandment to love, like all His commandments, is given for our good. Those who obey it are spared the pain that irrevocably assails those who fail to love. The Most High’s commandments are given for our good.
The effects of The Most High’s laws cannot be avoided. They are constant and unchangeable, even as He is. Yet, you control the impact of The Most High’s laws on your life because the decision to obey or disobey The Most High’s commandments and demands is wholly yours. In this manner, you control your destiny.
Read the Fine Print
Nothing can function at its maximum performance if it violates The Most High’s laws or the laws laid down by the manufacturer. These laws set the boundaries or limitations within which all things must operate.
There is no recourse. The pre-established consequences always follow the failure to fulfill the law’s obligations.
If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Books and television shows may tell us that we are free to sleep around, but they don’t caution us about the guilt and the misery that come from such actions. Pro-choice groups may persuade us that we are free to abort our babies, but they do not warn us of the severe depression and never-ending sense of loss that plague many women following an abortion. Cigarette ads may portray healthy, laughing men and women puffing away on the particular brand that tastes best and gives the most satisfying high, but they do not show the hospital rooms, cancer treatment centers, and doctors’ offices filled with smokers suffering from lung cancer and emphysema. Too often we resist obeying rules and living within a given set of laws, stipulations, and regulations because we see them as having a negative rather than a positive impact on our lives. The Scriptures are clear that The Most High’s laws are good. They are given for our benefit.
This is love for The Most High: to obey His commands. And His commands are not burdensome... (1 John 5:3).
If you fully obey the Lord your The Most High and carefully follow all His commands I give you today, the Lord your The Most High will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessing will come upon you if you obey the Lord your The Most High (Deuteronomy 28:1-2).
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path (Psalm 119:105).
Every commandment of negative orientation can be restated in a positive manner. “You shalt not misuse the name of the Lord your The Most High” (Exodus 20:7a) could be rephrased, “Worship only Me.” “You shall not steal” (Exodus 20:15) might be reworded, “Leave other people’s possessions alone.” “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor” (Exodus 20:16) could be, “Tell the truth.”
Unfortunately, mankind has difficulty obeying The Most High’s commandments. Therefore, The Most High sets forth His commandments as prohibitions that set boundaries within which we must operate. He relates to us at the point of our sin and endeavors to move us beyond our failure and disobedience by giving us very specific guidelines and directions. Because Cain had already killed Abel, for example, The Most High said, “You shall not murder” (Exodus 20:13) instead of “Honor and safeguard your neighbor’s life.” This same phenomenon is evident in the disciplining of a child.
Although the parent may tell the newly-mobile child “You may play only with your toys,” she inevitably must add “Do not touch the stereo, the television, the magazines on the coffee table, etc.” Do not touch...do not touch...do not touch. It is these negative statements that clearly define the child’s boundaries and help him learn what is acceptable behavior and what is not.
So it is in your relationship with The Most High. Through thou shalt nots The Most High delineates the limits within which you can live a healthy, happy, productive life. They are His means of helping you. He does not intend to unnecessarily harm, restrict, or bind you. The Most High created you to fulfill your potential, but you must accept the principles and laws that govern it. That’s the bottom line.
Misconception of Law
The limitless ability The Most High has given us to do all we can think, to accomplish all we can imagine, to fulfill every aspiration we entertain cannot survive unless we obey The Most High’s laws and live within His limitations. To encourage an accepting attitude toward The Most High’s laws and commandments, let us examine some of the misconceptions that surround the concept of law. Our potential cannot survive unless we obey The Most High’s laws and live within His limitations.
Misconception—Laws Restrict Us
All parents have heard the complaint, “You just don’t want me to have any fun,” when they put a restriction upon their children’s activities. Whether it is a curfew, a rule about calling home, or a standard that requires the child to avoid being at a friend’s home if the friend’s parents are not there, the child sees the rules and requirements as the parents’ desire to withhold from him the enjoyable things of youth.
Very often we transfer this same attitude into our relationship with The Most High. We see The Most High’s thou shalt nots as His means of taking the fun out of life. Then His laws appear to be restrictive instruments that limit our freedom to do what we want, when we want, where we want, with whom we want.
Misconception—Laws Inhibit Us
The misconception that law inhibits or restrains us also distorts our understanding of the purpose of law. This perception is readily evident in the attitude of the employee who feels that the obligation to punch a time clock cramps her preferred style of arriving at work five or ten minutes after the designated starting time and making up that time at the end of the day. Or perhaps a young couple believes that an apartment house’s rule to rent only to married couples inhibits their freedom to live together. Or, yet again, a club that makes much of its income from a daily happy hour may consider an ordinance that holds establishments responsible for accidents involving their patrons unnecessarily prohibitive.
Misconception—Laws Bind Us
Some laws appear to bind us and we, therefore, find them to be irritating. Traffic laws are good examples of these laws. One day as I rode in the car with my son, says Dr. Munroe, I tried to beat a yellow light because I was a little late. As the light changed, my son said, “Daddy, the light is changing.” Just as I pressed the accelerator to make the light, he spoke again, “Daddy, you’ve got to stop,” and then “Thou goest too fast, O Dad.” Because I had taught him to stop at red lights, I slammed on the brakes and we came to a halt with a terrible screech. The law concerning red lights was particularly binding to me that day.
Misconception—Laws Rob Us
The belief that laws prevent us from receiving the best things of life is also a false understanding of the nature of law. This perception often occurs when something we want defies a given law, but we want it anyway. A young girl, a citizen of the kingdom who wants to marry a nice-looking, well-behaved guy who isn’t saved thinks The Most High is unfair when He says not to be yoked with unbelievers (see 2 Cor. 6:14). A young businessman perceives himself to have been robbed when his partner is unwilling to use dishonestly obtained information to make a killing on the stock market. A single mother struggles between giving her tithe to The Most High and spending the money on a much-deserved weekend away from the kids.
All these misconceptions convince us that laws and regulations are encumbrances and burdens that prevent us from enjoying life to the fullest. In truth, laws are provided for our benefit.
The Benefits of Law
If, then, laws are given to help us and to make life more enjoyable, how do they accomplish their purpose? What reliable benefits do they offer?
Benefit—Laws Protect
The child who lives with no rules and restrictions is much more likely to get hurt or to end up in trouble than the child who lives within a structure of parental guidance. Because he has no boundaries or guidelines against which he can judge his actions, he may make decisions that jeopardize his safety and well-being. The rule “no playing on the kitchen floor when Mom is making dinner,” for example, protects a young child from being scalded. If he is not taught this rule, the child may not even know that he is in danger.
Likewise, the restriction “no swimming alone” protects against drowning. In a similar manner, traffic signs such as stop, yield, slow, and detour have all been established not to restrict, but to protect us and others. Laws protect us. They alert us to possible danger. Laws alert us to possible danger.
Benefit—Laws Assist
Laws also give us assistance. Can you imagine the confusion if everyone addressed their letters however they wished? Some people might put the address of the sender in the upper left corner, but others might put the address of the recipient there. Or one community might have the tradition of putting the stamp on the back of the envelope, while every other community places it on the front. Postal regulations aid the efficient handling of mail so letters go to the sender’s intended recipient. Instead of restraining us, laws provide assistance so we can accomplish what we intend.
Benefit—Laws Allow for Full Expression
Laws also allow us to express ourselves completely within the context of community. Consider what would happen if you bought a house in a nice neighborhood to raise your children in a safe, non-violent environment only to have your neighbor open an adults-only bookstore. The traffic on your formerly quiet street now quadruples and your children are exposed to unhealthy materials as people come from the shop leafing through pornographic literature.
One night a patron is shot in front of your house by his wife, who is enraged by his attitudes and his actions toward her after he has been looking at his girlie magazines. Suddenly, your nice neighborhood is no longer safe. Civil laws help to control what is and is not permitted within a community so that all may enjoy the environment they desire.
Although these laws may irritate us because they compel us to act in a certain manner, they permit us to enjoy personal preferences within our personal space. Consider, for example, the following situation. A resident in an apartment complex enjoys listening to classical music, but the young man in the next apartment blares his rock music so loud that it rocks his neighbor’s walls and drowns out her music.
If you are the young man who prefers loud rock music, the rules of the apartment complex that control noise appear to be restrictive and binding. For the person in the neighboring apartment, however, the regulations permit her to enjoy her own taste in music. Laws allow each person to enjoy his individual preferences so long as he does not infringe on the freedom of others to do the same.
Benefit—Laws Maximize Potential
Laws help us to do and be our best. The very laws that restrict negative behavior also encourage and uphold positive attitudes and actions. The classroom rule, for example, that makes the entire class responsible for monitoring cheating and gives a failing grade to anyone who copies from another student’s paper also encourages excellence because it exerts peer pressure for honesty and guarantees that each person will be graded by his or her own efforts. Thus, the law both sets consequences for negative behavior and rewards those who work hard and do their best. The very laws that restrict negative behavior also encourage and uphold positive attitudes and actions.
The Bible clearly shows that laws do not restrict positive thoughts and behavior:
...live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you...that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of The Most High. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law (Galatians 5:16-23).
Since the violation of law destroys potential, and obedience to law fulfills potential, law encourages the releasing and the maximizing of potential. Law encourages the releasing and the maximizing of potential.
Benefit–Law Secures Purpose and Function
Finally, law allows us to function within The Most High’s general design for human life, and the plans and purposes He sets for our individual lives.
The blessing of the Most High brings wealth, and He adds no trouble to it (Proverbs 10:22). Achieving purpose with The Most High’s blessing never brings sorrow.
Those, however, who try to fulfill their potential outside His purposes often experience multiplied sorrow. A businessman, for example, who builds his business without The Most High’s guidance and direction may attain the same wealth as a man who submitted his dreams and plans to The Most High’s will, but his position outside The Most High’s plan does not provide the freedom from worry that the other businessman enjoys. Those who must rely only on themselves to protect their gain often become ill from worrying. There is no joy in that kind of wealth. When the Most High blesses a person with prosperity, He both protects what He has given and He serves as a resource to the recipient. Man needs spiritual resources as surely as he needs physical and material assets.
Your Potential Needs the Benefit of The Most High’s Law
Potential without law is dangerous. Even as breaker switches cut off electricity when an electrical appliance malfunctions and a free flow of electricity is possible, so The Most High shuts us down when we operate outside His laws. This is His safeguard to keep us from self-destructing.
Potential without law is dangerous.
Many people throughout history have harmed themselves and others because they tried to fulfill their potential outside The Most High’s specifications.
but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern H8085 judgment;
The Torah testifies...............
Deuteronomy 4:6 Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear H8085 all these statutes, and say, Surely this great
nation is a wise and understanding people.
The prophets proclaim..................
Nehemiah 8:2 And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear H8085 with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month.
The writings bear witness...........................
1 Kings 3:9 Give therefore thy servant an understanding H8085 heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?
Proverbs 1:5 A wise man will hear, H8085 and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:
Understand and Obey the Laws of Limitation
Freedom without law is anarchy. Liberty without responsibility is irresponsibility.
The morning sun shimmered brightly on the choppy waves of the bay as a small motor boat moved slowly over the water. Perhaps 200 yards away, 14 swimmers plied through the chilly waters. Twenty men and women had begun the race that morning, but six had been pulled from the water into one of the many boats that lined the course. Exhaustion, muscle cramps, or some other malady had taken them from the race even before the swimmers had reached the mid-way point.
Just now the swimmers were bunched more closely than they had been for some time. As the far shore came into sight the competitors appeared to reach into their resources and pull with greater power and precision. Between them and the beach lay their greatest test, an area of swift-moving currents that had carried many a swimmer far toward the sea before he had been rescued or finally had given up and drowned.
Of the 14 swimmers in the water, 13 had swum the bay before. They knew from experience the dangers of the currents. Although those who watched from the boats kept an eye on the veterans, it was the one rookie swimmer they watched most closely. Just now he was in the lead, several hundred yards ahead of the pack.
Would he heed the warnings and follow the instructions he had been given to swim up the coast a piece before attempting to cross the swift-moving channel? If he did, he would win the race easily. If he did not, thinking that he didn’t want to waste the time to swim parallel to the shore, or that he was strong enough to meet the currents head on, they were ready to move quickly to rescue him. All watched anxiously to see what he would do.
As the rookie neared the buoys that marked the swift-running water, it appeared for a moment that he would stay within the marked course and swim upstream. He had not moved more than 20 yards, however, when he turned and swam directly toward the shore. Instantly, motors sprang to life and two boats sped across the water to the now-struggling swimmer. These were Coast Guard boats manned by experienced rescuers.
Later that afternoon when all the swimmers had reached the beach—including the rookie, who had been brought in by a Coast Guard cutter—the winner of the race approached the young man who had nearly drowned. “Why did you change your mind?” he asked. “The officials told me that you started to follow the path marked out for us, but then you suddenly veered toward the shore.”
“Those 20 yards that I swam upstream against the current were so easy that I thought all the fuss about that channel was just so much hype. So I decided to cut through it to win the race by a large margin. I soon realized that not only wouldn’t I win the race, I wouldn’t even finish it. For an instant I felt so dumb for throwing away the race, but then I realized that I had jeopardized my life as well. I’ll never try this again.”
Oh, I think you should enter the race again next year,” said the veteran racer. “You’re a magnificent distance swimmer. Just follow the rules the next time and you’ll find that the crossing point determined by the race organizers is challenging, but not life-threatening. Each year that point is different because the currents constantly change, so we all have to follow the prescribed course. One year we didn’t race at all because the officials couldn’t find a safe place to cross the channel. I wanted to talk them into sponsoring the race anyway, but I knew that would be foolish. Most likely no one would have finished anyway. Well, I hope to see you next year. It’s about time someone beat me. For a while I thought this would be the year.”
How sad! Although the rookie swimmer had the potential to beat the veteran, he lost the race, and nearly his life, because he chose to veer from the assigned course. He exercised his freedom to go his own way. This grasping for freedom is a universal tendency. To maximize your potential, you must understand the concept of freedom and the principle of law.
We Want to Be Free
The cry “We want to be free!” has swept our world in remarkable and frightening ways within the past decades. Particularly in Eastern Europe, the desire for freedom has brought sweeping revolutions, toppling governments and power structures that have repressed and oppressed many peoples. This same yearning for freedom prompts pregnant women to abort their babies, children to take their parents to court, and students to seek greater control over the measures of discipline used in their schools.
Freedom! It sounds so good. Everybody wants freedom. Ethnic groups, social groups, religious groups. Children, youth, adults. All want the right to determine their own lives and to make their decisions without guidance or interference from anyone else.
It should not surprise us, then, that many common phrases express this craving for freedom: Freedom of the press, Freedom of choice, Freedom of religion, Freedom of speech. All reveal the universal longing to be unencumbered by the dictates and the decisions of others.
Nothing Is Free
Is this truly possible? Can we be entirely free? No, I don’t think so. Nothing is free. Although advertising tries to convince us that we are getting something for nothing—buy one, get one free—we are still paying for the product the advertiser claims is free. In a similar manner, the cost of sweepstakes and prizes given to entice consumers to buy a particular product or to subscribe to a certain periodical is built into the company’s price structure somewhere along the way. We cannot get something for nothing. Nothing is free. We cannot get something for nothing.
This axiom is also true in relationships. We cannot be entirely free to do what we want, when we want, where we want, how we want, and with whom we want. Freedom always has a price because the actions of one person restricts and influences the freedom of another. The woman who aborts her baby takes away the baby’s freedom to live, and the student who slaps the teacher who reprimands her takes away the teacher’s freedom to keep order in his classroom. Freedom without responsibility cannot be freedom for all who are involved.
The Consequences of Freedom Without Responsibility
Lawlessness is the freedom to do whatever we want, when we want, with whom we want, with no one telling us to stop. In essence, we defy the standards that govern society to become a law unto ourselves with no sense of responsibility toward anything or anyone. For example, you may choose the freedom to smoke marijuana behind your house at three o’clock in the morning. You know you are breaking the law, but you choose to disregard the law and to exercise your freedom to do as you please. Lawlessness always results in slavery, death, and the loss of preexisting freedoms. Adam and Eve’s experience in the garden verifies this truth. Freedom without law is bondage.
The Loss of Freedom
When The Most High created the man and the woman and placed them in the garden, He gave them the following instructions:
You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die (Genesis 2:16b-17).
They were free to eat from any tree in the garden, but one.
When the serpent convinced the man and the woman to eat from this one tree, The Most High put them out of the garden and they lost the freedom to eat from the garden’s other trees. Their desire to be freed from The Most High’s restrictions cost them the freedom He had given them to eat from the other trees in the garden. Thus, the first penalty of freedom without responsibility is the loss of existing freedoms.
This proves to be true in all life. The teenager who stays out past his curfew loses his privilege to use the family car. The mechanic who charges exorbitant rates loses the customers he is in business to serve. The worker who takes 30 minutes for a 10-minute break loses the freedom to leave her desk without punching the time clock. The politician who forgets his campaign promises and breaks faith with the people who put him in office loses his reelection bid and the opportunity to serve his constituents.
Slavery
Slavery is a second consequence of freedom without responsibility. When the man and the woman disobeyed The Most High and ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they became slaves to evil.
Before their rebellion against The Most High, Adam and Eve knew only good because their knowledge came from their relationship with The Most High, who is good. In the moment of sin, their spirits became separated from The Most High’s Spirit and they became slaves of rebellion, the root of all sin. They could no longer see and do what The Most High requires. This loss of the ability to see and do what is right is always a result of choosing to place oneself above the law.
Thus, the teenager who regularly stays out past his curfew comes to expect that this is his right, the mechanic who charges exorbitant rates loses sight of fairness, the worker who takes an extended break assumes the company owes her this, and the politician who breaks faith with
those who elected him fails to see the error of his ways. Each becomes so enmeshed in his rebellious attitudes and actions that he can no longer see the wrong of his actions. Death inevitably follows.
Death
The third consequence of freedom without responsibility is death. Notice that The Most High connected the violation of the boundary around the tree of the knowledge of good and evil with death: “...for when you eat of it you will surely die” (Genesis 2:16). Disobedience to law always results in death.
The teenager who indulges in late hours will eventually see the death of his parents’ trust. The mechanic who takes whatever he can get will soon experience bankruptcy and the death of his business.
Likewise, the worker who extends her break and the politician who neglects to fulfill his promises will suffer the death of their dreams for advancement and recognition. Death is the inevitable result of freedom grasped at the expense of obedience to law.
Death is the inevitable result of freedom grasped at the expense of obedience to law.
The Nature of Law, Commands, and Demands
Merriam Webster’s dictionary (10th Collegiate, 1994) defines law as “a binding custom or practice of a community: a rule of conduct or action prescribed or formally recognized as binding or enforced by a controlling authority; a rule or order that is advisable or obligatory to observe.” It further observes that law “implies imposition by a sovereign authority and the obligation of obedience on the part of all subject to that authority.” Thus, a law regulates and governs the behavior of someone or something.
A command is an “order given” or an authoritative directive. It “stresses the official exercise of authority” and expresses the will of the authority based upon the established rules and regulations that govern the group. Thus, a commandment specifies behavior relative
to a law.
A demand is “the act of asking with authority.” It is based on the recognized authority of the one who asks, and it builds upon a previous command or commandment. Thus, a demand assumes that the requester has the right to make the request, and it specifies behavior in a specific instance or circumstance.
Let’s use family life to illustrate these principles. As the head of the home, the father may establish the law that the privacy of each individual is ensured. This is a given within the structure of the family.
Then he may issue the command that all members of the family should knock on a closed bedroom door and wait for the bidding “come in” before entering that room. This is his mandate or commandment relative to the principle of ensuring the privacy of each individual. Finally, when a daughter in the household is upset because her brother constantly enters her room when she is on the phone, the father may demand that the son knock on his sister’s door and wait for her response.
Law Provides Direction for Daily Life
The Most High has established many laws that influence our lives. Some of these govern the physical world in which we live; others control our relationships within the human family and with The Most High Himself. For example, The Most High has established marriage as the structure in which sexual relationships should be enjoyed and children should be raised. That is His law. “You shall not commit adultery” (Exodus 20:14) is one of His commandments built on that law. Hence, when
The Most High demands that you should not gratify your physical desires by engaging in intercourse outside the marriage relationship, He is applying to daily life the law He established at creation and the commandment He gave at Mount Sinai. He is specifying how we should behave in a given situation.
The Most High’s demands are always based on His laws and commandments. He is not capricious, nor is He out to destroy our pleasure. He knows that we cannot fulfill our potential outside His laws, so He gives us commandments relative to those laws and He makes demands on us that apply His commandments to our situation. If we resist His demands, we bring upon ourselves the natural consequences of His laws. The law of love is a good example of this principle.
The Most High created us to be loved by Him and to love Him and others in return. Love is an innate quality of His nature and of ours. The commandments “Love each other as I have loved you” (John 15:12), and “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44b) direct our efforts to understand and apply that law of love to our lives. When we disregard this law, we bear the consequences of loneliness, alienation, and internal turmoil that naturally come to those who fail to love.
We cannot choose whether or not these consequences will come to us, since they are inseparable from the law. Our only choice is whether or not we will love. Thus, we see that The Most High’s commandment to love, like all His commandments, is given for our good. Those who obey it are spared the pain that irrevocably assails those who fail to love. The Most High’s commandments are given for our good.
The effects of The Most High’s laws cannot be avoided. They are constant and unchangeable, even as He is. Yet, you control the impact of The Most High’s laws on your life because the decision to obey or disobey The Most High’s commandments and demands is wholly yours. In this manner, you control your destiny.
Read the Fine Print
Nothing can function at its maximum performance if it violates The Most High’s laws or the laws laid down by the manufacturer. These laws set the boundaries or limitations within which all things must operate.
There is no recourse. The pre-established consequences always follow the failure to fulfill the law’s obligations.
If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Books and television shows may tell us that we are free to sleep around, but they don’t caution us about the guilt and the misery that come from such actions. Pro-choice groups may persuade us that we are free to abort our babies, but they do not warn us of the severe depression and never-ending sense of loss that plague many women following an abortion. Cigarette ads may portray healthy, laughing men and women puffing away on the particular brand that tastes best and gives the most satisfying high, but they do not show the hospital rooms, cancer treatment centers, and doctors’ offices filled with smokers suffering from lung cancer and emphysema. Too often we resist obeying rules and living within a given set of laws, stipulations, and regulations because we see them as having a negative rather than a positive impact on our lives. The Scriptures are clear that The Most High’s laws are good. They are given for our benefit.
This is love for The Most High: to obey His commands. And His commands are not burdensome... (1 John 5:3).
If you fully obey the Lord your The Most High and carefully follow all His commands I give you today, the Lord your The Most High will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessing will come upon you if you obey the Lord your The Most High (Deuteronomy 28:1-2).
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path (Psalm 119:105).
Every commandment of negative orientation can be restated in a positive manner. “You shalt not misuse the name of the Lord your The Most High” (Exodus 20:7a) could be rephrased, “Worship only Me.” “You shall not steal” (Exodus 20:15) might be reworded, “Leave other people’s possessions alone.” “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor” (Exodus 20:16) could be, “Tell the truth.”
Unfortunately, mankind has difficulty obeying The Most High’s commandments. Therefore, The Most High sets forth His commandments as prohibitions that set boundaries within which we must operate. He relates to us at the point of our sin and endeavors to move us beyond our failure and disobedience by giving us very specific guidelines and directions. Because Cain had already killed Abel, for example, The Most High said, “You shall not murder” (Exodus 20:13) instead of “Honor and safeguard your neighbor’s life.” This same phenomenon is evident in the disciplining of a child.
Although the parent may tell the newly-mobile child “You may play only with your toys,” she inevitably must add “Do not touch the stereo, the television, the magazines on the coffee table, etc.” Do not touch...do not touch...do not touch. It is these negative statements that clearly define the child’s boundaries and help him learn what is acceptable behavior and what is not.
So it is in your relationship with The Most High. Through thou shalt nots The Most High delineates the limits within which you can live a healthy, happy, productive life. They are His means of helping you. He does not intend to unnecessarily harm, restrict, or bind you. The Most High created you to fulfill your potential, but you must accept the principles and laws that govern it. That’s the bottom line.
Misconception of Law
The limitless ability The Most High has given us to do all we can think, to accomplish all we can imagine, to fulfill every aspiration we entertain cannot survive unless we obey The Most High’s laws and live within His limitations. To encourage an accepting attitude toward The Most High’s laws and commandments, let us examine some of the misconceptions that surround the concept of law. Our potential cannot survive unless we obey The Most High’s laws and live within His limitations.
Misconception—Laws Restrict Us
All parents have heard the complaint, “You just don’t want me to have any fun,” when they put a restriction upon their children’s activities. Whether it is a curfew, a rule about calling home, or a standard that requires the child to avoid being at a friend’s home if the friend’s parents are not there, the child sees the rules and requirements as the parents’ desire to withhold from him the enjoyable things of youth.
Very often we transfer this same attitude into our relationship with The Most High. We see The Most High’s thou shalt nots as His means of taking the fun out of life. Then His laws appear to be restrictive instruments that limit our freedom to do what we want, when we want, where we want, with whom we want.
Misconception—Laws Inhibit Us
The misconception that law inhibits or restrains us also distorts our understanding of the purpose of law. This perception is readily evident in the attitude of the employee who feels that the obligation to punch a time clock cramps her preferred style of arriving at work five or ten minutes after the designated starting time and making up that time at the end of the day. Or perhaps a young couple believes that an apartment house’s rule to rent only to married couples inhibits their freedom to live together. Or, yet again, a club that makes much of its income from a daily happy hour may consider an ordinance that holds establishments responsible for accidents involving their patrons unnecessarily prohibitive.
Misconception—Laws Bind Us
Some laws appear to bind us and we, therefore, find them to be irritating. Traffic laws are good examples of these laws. One day as I rode in the car with my son, says Dr. Munroe, I tried to beat a yellow light because I was a little late. As the light changed, my son said, “Daddy, the light is changing.” Just as I pressed the accelerator to make the light, he spoke again, “Daddy, you’ve got to stop,” and then “Thou goest too fast, O Dad.” Because I had taught him to stop at red lights, I slammed on the brakes and we came to a halt with a terrible screech. The law concerning red lights was particularly binding to me that day.
Misconception—Laws Rob Us
The belief that laws prevent us from receiving the best things of life is also a false understanding of the nature of law. This perception often occurs when something we want defies a given law, but we want it anyway. A young girl, a citizen of the kingdom who wants to marry a nice-looking, well-behaved guy who isn’t saved thinks The Most High is unfair when He says not to be yoked with unbelievers (see 2 Cor. 6:14). A young businessman perceives himself to have been robbed when his partner is unwilling to use dishonestly obtained information to make a killing on the stock market. A single mother struggles between giving her tithe to The Most High and spending the money on a much-deserved weekend away from the kids.
All these misconceptions convince us that laws and regulations are encumbrances and burdens that prevent us from enjoying life to the fullest. In truth, laws are provided for our benefit.
The Benefits of Law
If, then, laws are given to help us and to make life more enjoyable, how do they accomplish their purpose? What reliable benefits do they offer?
Benefit—Laws Protect
The child who lives with no rules and restrictions is much more likely to get hurt or to end up in trouble than the child who lives within a structure of parental guidance. Because he has no boundaries or guidelines against which he can judge his actions, he may make decisions that jeopardize his safety and well-being. The rule “no playing on the kitchen floor when Mom is making dinner,” for example, protects a young child from being scalded. If he is not taught this rule, the child may not even know that he is in danger.
Likewise, the restriction “no swimming alone” protects against drowning. In a similar manner, traffic signs such as stop, yield, slow, and detour have all been established not to restrict, but to protect us and others. Laws protect us. They alert us to possible danger. Laws alert us to possible danger.
Benefit—Laws Assist
Laws also give us assistance. Can you imagine the confusion if everyone addressed their letters however they wished? Some people might put the address of the sender in the upper left corner, but others might put the address of the recipient there. Or one community might have the tradition of putting the stamp on the back of the envelope, while every other community places it on the front. Postal regulations aid the efficient handling of mail so letters go to the sender’s intended recipient. Instead of restraining us, laws provide assistance so we can accomplish what we intend.
Benefit—Laws Allow for Full Expression
Laws also allow us to express ourselves completely within the context of community. Consider what would happen if you bought a house in a nice neighborhood to raise your children in a safe, non-violent environment only to have your neighbor open an adults-only bookstore. The traffic on your formerly quiet street now quadruples and your children are exposed to unhealthy materials as people come from the shop leafing through pornographic literature.
One night a patron is shot in front of your house by his wife, who is enraged by his attitudes and his actions toward her after he has been looking at his girlie magazines. Suddenly, your nice neighborhood is no longer safe. Civil laws help to control what is and is not permitted within a community so that all may enjoy the environment they desire.
Although these laws may irritate us because they compel us to act in a certain manner, they permit us to enjoy personal preferences within our personal space. Consider, for example, the following situation. A resident in an apartment complex enjoys listening to classical music, but the young man in the next apartment blares his rock music so loud that it rocks his neighbor’s walls and drowns out her music.
If you are the young man who prefers loud rock music, the rules of the apartment complex that control noise appear to be restrictive and binding. For the person in the neighboring apartment, however, the regulations permit her to enjoy her own taste in music. Laws allow each person to enjoy his individual preferences so long as he does not infringe on the freedom of others to do the same.
Benefit—Laws Maximize Potential
Laws help us to do and be our best. The very laws that restrict negative behavior also encourage and uphold positive attitudes and actions. The classroom rule, for example, that makes the entire class responsible for monitoring cheating and gives a failing grade to anyone who copies from another student’s paper also encourages excellence because it exerts peer pressure for honesty and guarantees that each person will be graded by his or her own efforts. Thus, the law both sets consequences for negative behavior and rewards those who work hard and do their best. The very laws that restrict negative behavior also encourage and uphold positive attitudes and actions.
The Bible clearly shows that laws do not restrict positive thoughts and behavior:
...live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you...that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of The Most High. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law (Galatians 5:16-23).
Since the violation of law destroys potential, and obedience to law fulfills potential, law encourages the releasing and the maximizing of potential. Law encourages the releasing and the maximizing of potential.
Benefit–Law Secures Purpose and Function
Finally, law allows us to function within The Most High’s general design for human life, and the plans and purposes He sets for our individual lives.
The blessing of the Most High brings wealth, and He adds no trouble to it (Proverbs 10:22). Achieving purpose with The Most High’s blessing never brings sorrow.
Those, however, who try to fulfill their potential outside His purposes often experience multiplied sorrow. A businessman, for example, who builds his business without The Most High’s guidance and direction may attain the same wealth as a man who submitted his dreams and plans to The Most High’s will, but his position outside The Most High’s plan does not provide the freedom from worry that the other businessman enjoys. Those who must rely only on themselves to protect their gain often become ill from worrying. There is no joy in that kind of wealth. When the Most High blesses a person with prosperity, He both protects what He has given and He serves as a resource to the recipient. Man needs spiritual resources as surely as he needs physical and material assets.
Your Potential Needs the Benefit of The Most High’s Law
Potential without law is dangerous. Even as breaker switches cut off electricity when an electrical appliance malfunctions and a free flow of electricity is possible, so The Most High shuts us down when we operate outside His laws. This is His safeguard to keep us from self-destructing.
Potential without law is dangerous.
Many people throughout history have harmed themselves and others because they tried to fulfill their potential outside The Most High’s specifications.
Shema Selah, Hear O Isreal the Most High is our God and He is one!!! Get all of His understanding in this season of wisdom!!
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