I was online the other day and one of those news blurbs popped up and caught my eye. It reminded me of how I occasionally hear brethren talk about the laws of God; how they are so restrictive and sometimes even so "silly." As if we humans do any better:

• Massachusetts: It's illegal to sell fewer than 24 ducklings at a time before May 1, or to sell rabbits, chicks, or ducklings that have been painted a different color.
• Massachusetts: It's illegal to keep a mule on the second floor of a building unless there are 2 exits.
• Massachusetts: Affiliation with the Communist party is illegal.
• North Dakota: It is illegal to lie down and fall asleep with your shoes on.
• North Carolina: If a man and a woman who aren't married go to a hotel/motel and register themselves as married then, according to state law, they are legally married.
• Rhode Island: It's a misdemeanor to keep more than 11 inoperable vehicles in front of a house.
• Texas: When two trains meet each other at a railroad crossing, each shall come to a full stop, and neither shall proceed until the other has gone.
• Ohio: It is illegal for more than five women to live in a house.
• Ohio: No one may be arrested on Sunday or on the Fourth of July.
• Florida: Men may not appear in a public place while wearing any kind of a strapless gown.
• Louisiana: It is illegal to rob a bank and then shoot at the bank teller with a water pistol.

Now, just so you know, these are all real laws. You might be like me and wonder where/why/when these stupid laws were dreamt up. It probably doesn't surprise you that these laws were put into effect when they were necessary to solve a particular problem, and made perfect sense at the time. But now the times have changed, and the laws no longer apply. That is the nature of the laws of man; they come and go and change like the wind. Many of them favor a particular person or a particular group of people. after all remember the golden rule of the world those who have the gold make the rules! Don't you wish you could make up a law that said you could drive at any speed you want, but everyone else must drive slowly to be "safe?" How about the one that said you always had the right of way, no matter what? Does that sound any sillier than the above laws?

Move that over into the spiritual realm. How about a law that says everyone else must tell the truth, but not you? What about a law that says you no longer need to attend worship, or pray, or study, or anything else? (A spiritual right-of-way as it were. Do whatever you want and just feel good about it, regardless of what is the right thing to do...)

The laws of man are often good for the few who had the reins of power at the time. They are chock full of exceptions, escape clauses, and loopholes. No such things from God! The laws of God apply to all, and the consequence for breaking them is the same for everyone regardless of age, color, weight, sex, or anything else. They are fair, just, and always perfect for our times no matter what those times bring about. Mercy, love, forgiveness, honesty, knowledge, wisdom, and praise for our creator NEVER go out of style! But the laws of God also reward us, for if we obey God from the heart, we will receive a reward. What will our town, our county, our state, or our nation give us for obeying the law? Haven't I heard something along those lines, something like "Though a man gain the whole world?" Our world doesn't care for us; it doesn't remember us, and it doesn't love us. We resist God because we don't have the freedom we think we want. We expect God to sit back and let us hurt ourselves and not care. Now isn't that silly?

Acts 24:14-16 But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets: and have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both the just and unjust. and herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offense toward God, and toward man.

Romans 3:29-31 Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also: Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith. Do we then make void the law though faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.

1 Timothy 1:8-11 But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully; Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, b ut for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be anything else contrary to sound doctrine; according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.

1 Peter 1:22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.