Forced Obedience?

Gibby is a black Persian cat who loves catnip and all kinds of other green snacks. One day he bit into a hydrangea leaf and began spitting up some green foam. His people immediately called a poison control center .and found out that hydrangea is similar to cyanide.   Gibby survived, but even his brush with death did not stop his illicit snacking.  Of course as long as people are watching Gibby has learned to avoid chewing on plants. But late at night, when his people are in bed they can often hear a distant crunching.

They often wake up in the morning to the lucky bamboo that wasn't so lucky, a vase of roses minus all their petals, or a lonely stem in a bud vase--all casualties of Gibby's snacking.  It's pretty clear that houseplants (and small birds) are not safe around Gibby.  His ability to avoid snacking is entirely dependent upon the outside coercion of his owners. How nice it would be if Gibby could just understand that the hydrangea is poisonous, but until that happens he must be monitored...

Sadly, humans often act no smarter than ignorant animals. To make the universe safe for people God wants to protect us from the poison of sin. He has given us specific guidelines. The Ten Commandments are our teacher  to show us how to live safely. A common confusion among Christians is Paul's statement that we are no longer under the law. Many Christians believe this means that we no longer need to keep the Ten Commandments. If this is true, which of the ten would most people be comfortable with their neighbors to breaking? Do we care if our neighbors steal and lie? Perhaps we might not mind so much if our neighbors worshipped idols.

What if someone believes that their so-called god is telling them to murder other people? Would we still feel the neighborhood was safe?  Just as there are laws that govern gravity and speed, God's law has intrinsic consequences. These consequences are not a punishment from God. They are the result of breaking the law in the same way that jumping off a cliff or running a red light have predictable results. God has given humans more reasoning powers than the animal kingdom. Gibby doesn't understand that hydrangeas are poison. But we know that selfishness is poison. The Ten Commandments represent God's unselfish character. God hopes we will learn to be unselfish so that we can be safe, and so that others can be safe around us for eternity.  So how can we be no longer under the law? When we first learn to drive a stick shift we had to think about every single shift. But once we learned how to shift, we drove without even thinking. This is a simple example of how God's law is a teacher to guide us until we automatically live God's ways.

The law is neither to be thrown out nor to be legalistically observed, but rather it is a teaching tool. When we finally receive a new heart from God, when we love God and others automatically, we will no longer be under the law.  "I was so foolish and ignorant;
I was like a beast before You. Nevertheless I am continually with You; You hold me by my right hand. You will guide me with Your counsel, And afterward receive me to glory.  Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart fail; But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." Psalm 73:22-26

© 2008 Cherilyn Christen Clough.