House Rules

Some of my most memorable moments are when I am away from home and we are having some catching up time with the children over Skype. One recent conversation started off with my son’s exuberant proclamations;

Son with eyes suddenly opened to their maximum size: Today I was spanked!!
Me: why were you spanked?
Son: Are you coming home today?
Me: No, I will be there on Saturday.
Son (counting fingers): Saturday?
Son with eyes about to pop out: I was beaten three times (holding up three stout fingers)
Me: why were you spanked?
Son: (counting first finger and shouting) I was spanked for screaming at Yuni!!
Me: Ehe
Son: Two (holding out two fingers, eyes almost out of sockets now). I was spanked because I refused to sleep
Me: (Wondering whether his eyes will make it)
Son: Three I was beaten because I pushed my sister
Me: That’s not right
Son: Then I was given two time-outs!!! (son jabbing animatedly at the computer screen)
Me: Sigh! (Wondering whether he is triumphant or contrite)

We learnt early in Dr. Stanley Mukolwe’s parenting class that young children thrive best where there are rules that are clearly and repeatedly communicated. It is also important that children are made aware that all infractions will be sanctioned with a commensurate disciplinary method just as much as every act of obedience will be rewarded.  

God too has rules for his children on earth. They are of a higher order than our household rules and so the bible refers to them as commandments. The commandments have three primary goals;

1. To ensure that your relationship with God is in good standing
2. To ensure that you can live harmoniously with your fellow man
3. To ensure that you take care of nature over which God has made man dominant

When it comes to his house, God runs a tight ship. He expects us to know and obey his commandments. God commanded Moses to tell the Israelites;
Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the Lord your God that I give you._Deut.4:2
Too many today cannot stand taking orders from anyone let alone the useful instructions given in the bible. Previously the idea that one is accountable to none except to himself or herself was deemed a western thing. Now however, the so-called ‘enlightened masses’ in Africa have caught on and prefer to see themselves as independent-minded. They eschew any form of church-taught spirituality and have little care for the commandments of God. It’s puzzling though, why a good number of them still want to attend church to feed their unspoken social, spiritual and even material needs. Come Sunday and many want to boldly walk into the house of God. Some even want to be recognised therein but they would not allow God within ten feet of the picket fences they have built around their private lives. What they do not fully understand is that a lot of God's blessings are tied to acts of obedience to his commands. A lot of life's difficulties can also be traced back to the breaking of or ignorance of God's universal laws.

Jesus put a lot of weight on God’s commandments. He started by saying that God loves us in an incredible way^{-John 3:16-17}. But God also wants our love. Indeed what is love without reciprocation? How would you feel if you loved someone and they never loved you back? Why do we assume that it should be any different with God? God wants our love and adoration. How do we love God? Jesus gave us the answer;  
²¹ Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him." 
²³ Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.
²⁴ He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. _{(John 14:21,23)} 

Love in this sense is not mere human sentiment(Daniel Juster). It is much more than the feeling we attribute to human love relationships. In this context love is a hard-nosed fidelity to the commandments of God. It follows therefore that all those who claim to love God and yet have no real desire to know or obey his commandments are essentially faking love. To attend church and not grow in your knowledge of the word of God is false love. To read the word of God while making no credible attempts to apply it in your daily life is false love. Indeed one who attends church regularly but has only a passing knowledge of the teachings of Jesus can be said to be having a torrid affair with the world. They are players.

 The person who claims to love God must know and obey the teachings of Jesus. We find the commands and teachings of Jesus in the bible. 

When we jump forward to the last words in the bible we find that the written word of God is given even more weight. Sounding a little like Moses initial injunction to the Israelites, Apostle John writes;
¹⁸ I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. ¹⁹ And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book. 
²⁰ He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. _{(Rev 22:18-20)} 

 He will indeed come. In the meantime let’s learn to love Him.