I remember when I was a little boy having to take some very nasty tasting medicine. I’ve heard horror stories of castor oil (I have a feeling that is the medicine I’m talking about), but I’m not sure if that’s what I was taking. I can only tell you that every taste-bud in my mouth, nose, ears and eyes (I know you don’t have taste-buds in some of those places, but I’m trying to make a point) revolted as that medicine left that spoon and proceeded down my throat. I can still hear my mom telling me that I should take this horrible tasting medicine for my own good.
God has provided some medicine for our lives that tastes much better and I am sure is far superior to whatever medicine that was that I was taking years ago. “And the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that He might preserve us alive, as it is at this day” (Deuteronomy 6:24). God had provided Moses and the children of Israel a road map for success in their lives. He gave us His laws and statutes to help us stay out of the ditches of life, and to stay in the center of His will. All that sounds good to us … until we get nearer the ditch and see something that looks attractive over there. We know better, but for some reason, we are drawn to the ditches.
I love this verse today because it is so true! God gives us a list of guidelines for our lives to be lived successfully. Some may call them “rules,” or “laws,” or some other word that often makes us feel restricted. However, as this verse says, God’s standards are not for restriction, but for freedom! You see, if you step outside God’s standards, you will find a pitfall of life. You will wish you had stayed on the right path. The ends of our choices are often destruction and heartache. The greatest joy and freedom we will ever experience is in the center of the will of God. In the center of the path that God desires us to walk upon. The greatest joy in the life of any person on this earth is to accomplish the things that God desired us to do when He originally designed us. One day a friend of mine invited me to hunt pheasants with him. He told me that he had two “bird-dogs” to help us find the pheasants. I had never hunted with a dog like this before. As we started to walk through the fields, I watched these dogs as they pointed a straight line from the tip of their tail to the tip of their nose … directly where the pheasants were hiding. These dogs were so excited to go with us, because they were doing exactly what God made them to do. Are you following His Word today and being obedient to what you read? You will not find true happiness until you surrender to His Word today. It’s for your own good.