Keeping rules or not

³¹But by shifting our focus from what we do to what God does, don't we cancel out all our careful keeping of the rules and ways God commanded? Not at all. What happens, in fact, is that by putting that entire way of life in its proper place, we confirm it. (Rom 3:31 - New Message Bible)

I grew up living by rules.  My Dad was a preacher and we, his kids, had to set an example for everyone in the church.  At least we were supposed to.  We didn't wear lipstick, we didn't go to movies, we didn't play with our neighborhood friends on Sunday . . . I could go on and on.  When I was a teenager and wanted to wear lipstick, Dad made it clear to me that to wear lipstick was not a sin - it was a cultural rule in our church.  The people believed that wearing lipstick would signify that the woman was a sinner.  Dad asked me how I would feel if they considered me a sinner because I wore lipstick?  I said I wouldn't like it.  He told me that I should decide for myself and, of course, I decided not to wear it.  I didn't want to be branded a sinner by the church people.

Dad was trying to tell me that keeping rules is not how you receive salvation.  We do not follow God by keeping rules but by relying on what God has done for us.  He gave His son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross that we might be free from rules.  But that doesn't mean that in following Jesus, we don't have rules.  As we allow our lives to be lived through Christ, some things are just more appropriate than others.  When we focus on what God does in our lives, we want to follow Him each day.

Habits can be good and may even be life saving.  When habits become addictions or even obsessions they are harmful.  So I have to be careful that my following Christ is a living, daily, dynamic walk.  Thus the first thing I do each day is have a conference with my Leader as to what today is going to be about and then I follow.  Prayer and Bible study become the food and the direction for my life.