Rules of the game

A couple of weeks ago Drew's baseball team had a end-of-year cookout at a local park. One of the highlights of the evening was the parent/child game. I was looking forward to the game, and I saw some of the other dads were trash talking the boys while we ate our dinner. I thought it was going to be fun. I was wrong. I knew we would take it easy on the boys, but I thought we would at least play within the rules. In the first inning, I think we recorded 6 outs. Several batters worked the count into double digit strikes before getting a hit. Runners stayed on base after getting out. I couldn't tell when our half of the inning was supposed to start, but eventually we retired the side. We played three innings (I think), but I was done after the first. If there's no consequence to getting out, why should I attempt to get anyone out? If everybody gets to play according to their own rules, the end result is no good for anyone. I'm not sure who won, because it was too hard to keep an accurate score. What could have been an enjoyable contest turned into chaos.

Last week Rachel's softball team had the same kind of party. We got together at the park, had some food and then we played a parent/child game. I sat out this one, but Dawn played. This game also went three innings. This game, however, was different. We had an umpire who called balls and strikes. We even had players strike out or draw walks! We played three outs per inning. (With generous calls for the girls) We played a game within the rules. The parents won by a couple of runs, but the girls were not devastated by the loss. This game was much more enjoyable than Drew's game. Playing by the rules made it much more fun, more comfortable, more relaxed. A game with no rules resulted in anxiety, but one with guidelines brought calm.

James 1:22-25 "Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it - he will be blessed in what he does."

What a wonderful way to describe it - "the perfect law that gives freedom". A law that gives freedom? God has given us rules for life, both the "do this" kind and the "don't do that" kind of instruction. Why does he do that? To limit us? To restrict us? To control us? No, he gives us his rules to free us. A baseball game played without rules is no fun. One with clear universal guidelines is enjoyable. A life lived playing by our own rules will only lead to chaos. One lived within the universal rules will lead to joy, freedom, and peace.