Somebody's making another rule for us to follow, additional guidelines, warnings, cautions, ordinances like the one above, or laws which are seemingly just as foolish. God boiled it down to 10 rules that covered most things, and gave us clarification where needed. We have taken that simple example, and twisted it to eternity.
There are rules for how tall your grass can be, when your dog can bark, and when he can't. Rules for warning people coffee is hot (really?), and rat poison is bad for you (wouldn't have guessed that one--thank you!). We apparently need guidance to stop our car if someone is crossing the street, and to not park in the middle of the interstate. Struggling to know whether or not you should pick up a hitchhiker near a prison? Don't worry--there's signs to help you figure that one out.
Everywhere you look, someone has made a rule to help you out. The problem is, there are so many rules, it's nearly impossible to follow them all! Take the tax code, for example. Or Constitutional law. Rules are made to invalidate others, and then more are made to invalidate those. It shall be illegal to . . . except when . . . or if . . . and in cases of. For the love of Pete! I just want to know if I can back out of my driveway or not without getting a ticket!
Life really isn't that complicated.
Most of us know what's right, and what isn't. 99% of life is common sense (which is becoming far less common!). Is it permissible for me to drive down the road at night without my headlights on? Uh--no. Can I throw my garbage on my neighbor's lawn because I missed trash day? Not advisable. Is it OK if I jump off this bridge? Really? We know what's right, what's reasonable, and what's just plain dumb. Knowing isn't always doing, but if we're going to do something dumb, is a law going to stop us? Not usually.
We know better than to go streaking through the public square, play earth-shaking music at 2:00AM or play mailbox baseball, don't we? Of course we do! Are there rules against those things--of course. Do we need them? We shouldn't. We really, really shouldn't.
Life is pretty simple. We have a God-given moral sense of right and wrong, and God-given intelligence for everything else. Sure, some people don't use the good sense God gave a mule, but that doesn't mean they don't know any better. Most everything in life is pretty straight forward. In fact, it really boils down to this:
Love your neighbor as yourself.
Or at least that's what Paul said in Romans 13:9 which reads, The commandments, "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet," and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself."
Whatever commandment there may be is summed in that one simple statement. Just think if everyone lived that way. Really, what other laws would we need? If you love your neighbor as yourself you wouldn't consider harming them, stealing from them, irritating them, slandering them, or anything else. Loving your neighbor, you would not cheat on your taxes, endanger him by speeding down the road, or let your grass grow too tall. Loving your neighbor, you'd do what is right by him.
Wow! How simple is that? How many rules could we get rid of if we all just did that? How much less complicated would life be? Imagine if all a judge had to ask was whether or not a defendant loved his neighbor as himself.
Come to think of it, that's the way it is.
Jesus has been given all authority to judge (John 5:22). This same Jesus said all the law and prophets (the rules governing life) were summed up in two rules: Love God, Love your neighbor (Matthew 22:37-40). The judge of all things told us what we would be judged by, and it didn't take Him volumes to make it clear. Love God. Love your neighbor.
Simple enough.
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