The windows on the 4th floor of the building in which I worked for Amoco faced the parking lot. One of the managers (thank God, no mine) had a habit of coming into work early and leaving late. He had no family. He would come in early and stand at the window taking down the names of all who arrived after him (mind you, they actually could have been early for work, just after him) and talk with them about "punctuality." He figured if he was there, you should be there. After about a month of this, there was no one coming in during his observation time and he stopped. What he didn't know was that those who couldn't get there early just came in 20 minutes late after he left the window!
Some think God is like that manager. Fussy, nitpicky, unreasonable. Thinking God is that way, these people come up with all sort of imaginative ways to skirt the rules or impose them on others unreasonably.
When Jesus said in John's Gospel, "I came that you have life in abundance," I assume he meant it. God provides rule not to spoil our life but to support it. God is not waiting to 'get me." God see the big picture. I, in my self-centeredness, often do not. Like a loving parent, God hopes to keep us from harm and keep us solidly plugged into life.
What rules do you live by? What rules do you expect others to live by? Do they support life and even magnify it? Are there too many? Too few?
May you live passionately and fully today because of the rules, not in spite of them. God wants nothing less.
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