Have you ever seen the list of rules at the pool?
- Shower first.
- No running.
- No diving.
- No unsupervised children.
- No food or drinks.
Who made up those rules? Showering first just seems silly, doesn’t it? It’s like the pool people are trying to spoil all our fun!
The Ten Commandments can seem that way, too, like a list of rules that God gave us to ruin our fun. But God’s not like that. He gave the Israelites the Ten Commandments to help everyone live together well and to set them apart as his people. He didn’t tack up the Ten Commandments on a wall and leave the Israelites on their own. No, God had already chosen the people of Israel and promised to love them. When he gave the commandments to Moses, he planned to stay with his people and keep loving them.
We should follow God’s commandments not just because they’ll keep us safe, like the rules at the pool. We should follow them because God loves us. And the best news of all is that Jesus helps us to follow them!