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“Don’t do this. Don’t do that.”

Those were the words I grew up with. I heard them at church (man-made rules), and I heard them at home (my grandparents’ own interpretation of the Scriptures—along with the rules they had heard in church). Break the rules and you’re headed for eternal damnation.

I always felt like a tiny bug waiting to get squished underfoot by a supreme being I could not see, hear, touch, or understand.

Did God really make all those rules? I often wondered. Or did people take it upon themselves to determine good from evil?

As I studied the Word for myself and grew in my relationship with the Lord, I realized He was the only one qualified to differentiate good from evil, right from wrong. I found more dos than don’ts—something I was never taught in church. One writer suggests that we cannot live by human inclination but by divine revelation. Don’t believe it? Just ask Adam and Eve. I’m sure we would get an earful.

Jesus came to set us free from the bondage of man-made rules—like the ones created by the Sadducees and Pharisees. Then He sent His Holy Spirit to live inside us. To lead, guide, and direct us. To show us right from wrong. To keep us on the right path and convict us when we’re tempted to stray from it. I once heard a friend say, “When we get to heaven, we’re going to find out God wasn’t nearly as concerned about all the little petty things we thought He was.”

God is not a hard taskmaster. He is a loving Father who cares about His children more than we could ever comprehend. And He does not want us to walk around fearing that we might make one wrong step and miss eternity in His presence. Instead, He richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment. That’s His pleasure.

As they say, don’t sweat the small stuff. Seek God with all your heart, soul, and strength; He will keep you on track.

(Photo courtesy of pixabay and MonikaP.)

(For more devotions, visit Christian Devotions.)