Not Restriction, But Protection

As a teenager, a friend of mine babysat for a family with four kids. Three of the children ate their peas without fussing, played in the yard without wandering, and brushed their teeth without arguing. But the fourth child? His favorite saying was, “You can’t tell me what to do!”

One day, Ben had reached his peak of being told to eat, stay, and brush. So he marched his four-year-old self to his room, stuffed one boot and three shoes, a robot, and his blanket in a backpack, and took off down the road.

Ben didn’t make it out of the cul-de-sac before my friend scooped him up and carried his squirming, wiggling body home. She explained the hazards of running away, but doubted Ben could hear her over his chant, “You can’t tell me what to do! You can’t tell me what to do!”

Can you relate? I know I can. There are times I’ve fought God when He’s asked me to obey. In those times, I have to remember that rules offer safe boundaries. And this is God’s intention when He instructs us with do’s and don’ts.

God sets rules in place not to restrict, but to protect.

In the Old Testament, He told the Israelites, “For I am the Lord your God. You must consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy.” (Leviticus 11:44a). The word consecrate means to set apart. To help them do this, the Lord gave the Israelites purification and ceremonial cleanliness rules. They had clearly defined rules of what they could and could not eat, how to treat and quarantine sickness, when to bathe, how to clean their homes, and much more.

Why all these seemingly strict rules? Well, rashes are contagious. Mildew spreads. Diseases pass from the sick to the healthy. Not much has changed since the Old Testament times, huh?

God’s physical quarantines safe-guarded the Israelites then, much like His spiritual confines shield us now.

When the Spirit nudges us to set ourselves apart from something, He has good reason. For example, if we know we’re not to watch a certain television show our friends do, His purpose is protection. There may be frightening scenes that would give us nightmares, or adult scenes that would tempt us to lust, or crude scenes that would lower our guard against using vulgar words. Or the reason for not watching that show may remain a mystery.

Sometimes God’s rules make perfect sense, like avoiding people when you have the flu. Other times, we won’t understand them and may never know the ‘why’ behind His guidance. In either case, the next time we want to yell, “You can’t tell me what to do!” let’s remember that we can trust that His ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts (Isaiah 55:9). God sets rules in place not to restrict, but to protect.