Daily Devotion

Rules are Good.......What?


Matthew 7:9-11

Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

God is Compassionate

Over the past few days, we’ve talked about God’s power, jealousy, holiness, and forgiveness. Another really great thing about God is his compassion.

The dictionary defines "compassion" as sympathy for the suffering of another person. God's compassion is part of His holiness. Because He is so good, He has tons of patience with us. I know that I mess up pretty often. God doesn't strike me down with lightning or make me break my leg or something. Instead, He forgives me and loves me without any conditions.

Jesus used a parable to illustrate God's compassion. He asked his disciples to imagine that a little boy goes up to his father. He says, "Daddy, can I have some bread? I'm hungry." Jesus pointed out that a loving father would certainly not give his little boy a stone or a snake to satisfy his hunger. Since an imperfect human father would never give his child something that would hurt him, it’s obvious that our perfect and compassionate Heavenly Father wouldn’t either. He won't be mean to us. He will give us whatever we need and a whole bunch of stuff we just want. But, He will never give us something that will hurt us, even if we ask for it.

Sometimes it seems like if we want to please God, we can’t have any fun. There are all sorts of rules that we have to keep. Don’t tell lies. Be nice to people, even when they are mean to you. Don’t cheat on tests. Don’t hang out with kids who get into trouble at school. It can be pretty frustrating when we keep running up against God’s rules all the time.

It might help to think about how his rules could possibly be good things, expressions of God’s great love and compassion for us. How could do’s and don’ts show that God has sympathy for us? Let’s think about one of the rules listed above: Don’t hang out with kids who get into trouble at school. I knew some good kids who were friends with a boy who broke into the school and vandalized it one weekend. The police went to the home of every single one of that boy’s friends to question them. The good kids could have been in really serious trouble if they had been with their friend when he broke into the school. Fortunately, they were out of town with their parents for the weekend.

The point is, God is a gracious, compassionate and wise father. He only makes rules for us to make our lives better. Even his commandments are for our benefit and an expression of his love for us.

Today’s Prayer:
Dear  Father, I’m sorry that I haven’t understood that you make rules for me to keep me out of trouble. I so appreciate the fact that you will only give me good gifts in answer to my prayers, gifts that will help me be a better person and keep me out of trouble. Please help me learn to accept your commandments and your “no” answers to my prayers as your way of keeping me safe and helping me to grow. Amen.