following God’s rules | Devotions by Chris Hendrix

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April 7, 2025 · 5:48 AM

Obedience Brings Blessings

I’ve always tried to explain that rules are simply boundaries meant to keep you safe. My wife introduced a better concept to me. She said that rules are like a house. When you operate within them, you have protection from the elements outside. You have food and water with its walls to keep you fed. There’s also an air conditioner that keeps the climate controlled. The problem is that we like to go over to the window and imagine life is better outside the walls of the rules. When we go outside the rules, we open ourselves up to the weather, we have to search for food and water and we’re no longer protected.

God gave us a set of rules that are designed to operate like that. He offers us the choice between blessing and cursing, life and death. One is found in following the rules He’s asked us to live with in, and the other awaits us when we break them. In Jeremiah’s day, Israel had been living outside of God’s protection and the Babylonians had taken them hostage. In the book of Lamentations, he describes how hard their life is because they had broken God’s laws and had been living outside of the walls of His protection. In Lamentations 3:38-40 he wrote, “Does not the Most High send both calamity and good? Then why should we, mere humans, complain when we are punished for our sins? Instead, let us test and examine our ways. Let us turn back to the Lord” (NLT). He realized they were suffering the consequences of their behavior, but also knew God is full of mercy and grace.

Deuteronomy 28 tells of all the blessings and benefits of obedience. Verse 2 says, “You will experience all these blessings if you obey the Lord your God:” since the Garden of Eden, our enemy has tried to get us to see God’s rules as restrictive and played to our pride. He’s tried to get us to step out of the protection God’s laws give so he can devour us. The truth is God’s laws are life and blessing to us. When we choose to operate within them, and live the life He has called us to live, He provides all we need. If you’ve gone outside of His laws, it’s only one step to be back within them. Repentance gives us God’s grace. Obedience brings His blessings. In Him, there is true freedom. The choice is always ours.

Photo by Sixteen Miles Out on Unsplash

Moving God’s Boundaries

I read a news article recently about a farmer in Belgium. He was out plowing his field one day when he came across a stone that was where he was trying to work. He stopped plowing, moved the stone about 7 feet and went back to work. A little while later, a person was hiking in the woods near his home and saw the stone had been moved. He called the authorities and alerted them. It turns out that it wasn’t just any stone he moved. It was a stone that marked the border between Belgium and France. He inadvertently made Belgium about 7 feet wider. When he told them what happened, they all laughed, but told him to put it back, which he promptly did.

Saul, who was the first king of Israel, tried to move the boundaries that God had set too. When God told him to kill all the animals in a military campaign, he spared the best ones and the king. When he was confronted by the prophet, he said he only spared them in order to sacrifice them to God. In another instance, the prophet had told him to wait before going to battle until he arrived to make a sacrifice. When the prophet didn’t show up exactly on time, Saul began to panic. He saw his men deserting him before the battle. He offer the sacrifice himself which was against the direct order given to him and the Law of Moses. When Saul moved the boundaries because of his impatience and self reliance, God took the kingdom from him.

Proverbs 22:28 says, “The previous generation has set boundaries in place. Don’t you dare move them just to benefit yourself” (TPT). What boundaries that God has set have you moved because it was convenient for you? We all test boundaries and move them trying to enlarge our own territory. The problem is that when we do, we’re shrinking God’s territory in our lives. Our flesh is constantly at war with our spirit fighting over that boundary. It’s time that we moved the boundaries back to where God established them. If we truly want to thrive and to live the life God created us to live, we need to obey what God has said and to become dependent on Him rather than ourselves. God established our boundaries for a reason. We must respect them and obey them even when we don’t understand.

Photo by Sue Winston on Unsplash

Throwback Thursday is a feature I’m using to help build some margin into my schedule to pursue other ventures. Each Thursday I’ll be bringing you a previously written devotional that still speaks encouragement to us from God’s Word.

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