Wednesday, July 29, 1998
 

I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have preserved my life.

Psalm 119:93, New International Version

    Much like the rules parents have for young children -- don't drink what's under the cabinet, don't play in the street, don't walk out from behind parked cars... -- God's guidance is not to restrict us, but to protect us. His commands, both positive and prohibitive, are for our protection and perfection. By them we find life and have it preserved. (The Old Testament Law had all sorts of cleanliness laws that did not make any sense at all until thousands of years after they were written when we began to understand bacteria and viruses. All through these years, the Israelites were preserved by God's command when they had no real understanding why God had given the laws in the first place.)