As I sat at the Adugodi police station in Bangalore one night, to where my bike got towed away for being parked in a supposedly “No Parking” zone, I desperately thought how lame it sounded to have a  no parking zone in an interior lane! “The city planners are THE most illogical creatures”, I sulked, as I plotted stories unsuccessfully, fighting all attempts of a conspiracy to burn a big hole into my pocket for such a seemingly petty mistake.

Finally, after being held up for an hour and half, I paid the entire fine and left.  “I hate rules that make my life miserable!”, I muttered to myself, after getting fined for the fifth time, either due to a wrong parking or for over-speeding, not counting those numerous other times I escaped without getting fined! How unreasonable it felt  to have such traffic rules.

On my way back my home the very same night, while navigating through the evening rush hour, I almost crashed into another bike. I immediately felt sick with anger against the biker who seemed to care nothing about any lane discipline!

It took me a few minutes to realize this double standard within my heart, and it hit me what I was expecting-obedience of those same traffic rules I condemned a while back. Can you imagine Bangalore or any other city without traffic rules, the amount of chaos and destruction that would’ve been spread then?

That was when it dawned on me, this is exactly how we respond to God when He prescribes standards and sets rules for us to live by.

We are very adamant creatures, trying to live life on our terms without wanting God’s intervention. And yet we blame God for all the consequences we face by living out of His will for our life. It is hypocritical, then, if we continue to live in sin and expect God’s  favor over our lives.

The Bible is not a rule book, but it does contain rules and guidelines for a happy living. When we live by them, we not only gain favor in God’s sight, but are also able to make this world a better place to live in.

Sin and us.

Anything that displeases God, be it our actions, our reactions, our disobedience or even delaying obeying God is a sin. God takes sin very seriously, so seriously that He allowed His only begotten Son to die a brutal death on the cross to wash the stains of sin away!

Paul writes, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?” (Rom 6:1,2) Grace and mercy is made available wherever sin or an opportunity for sin is. If you commit a sin, please remember that God is good and gracious. Whenever we seek forgiveness, we will find it. However, if we continue to live in sin, it just goes on to prove that we have not really died to sin yet!

Yes, it may seem a little cumbersome to submit ourselves to God’s guidelines. But if we love Him and trust the reason why He expects us to do so, it will not seem to be a burden anymore.

What are some of the areas in your life that needs to come under God’s governance? How do you plan to deal with them? Looking forward to hearing from you!

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