The warning was handwritten, but oh so stern.
DO NOT ENTER you WILL go to JAIL!
We all stood a safe distance, as none of the Colopy crew wanted our vacation funds to be siphoned off for bail.
Some teenage boys walked up to the sign. They read the words. They looked at each other and dared one another to cross the line. One boy leapt over to the cheers of the others. Several others went with him. They ran down the path and just as quickly came running back and leapt back over the rope. They fell into each other, laughing and whooping it up at their brave and daring breach of the law.
“Dude, that was so cool!”
“Right? It’s like that time we went into 7-11 and it had that sign, ‘no shirt, no service’ and we went in there like, half naked!:”
“Yeah! That was awesome!”
My crew listened in, looked at each other and couldn’t control the laughter bubbling up.
Going shirtless into 7-11, that’s no joke Bro.
But here I confess. While I’ve never had the desire to strip down before heading in for a slushy, I do feel that deep desire to do what I’ve been told not to do. When I was younger, that got me in major trouble. Now as an adult, my forays into rebellion may not be as obvious, but the impulse is still there. To overindulge, gossip, grumble, hold a grudge. Or worse, to eat bread when I’ve determined never to consume carbs again.
It’s inside us. That rebel. That piece that pushes past when we know we should stop. We’ve all been there.
Especially if we feel like something is unreasonable or just plain silly. I mean, everyone pretty much follows the rule of not crossing a busy highway. The consequences are significant, easy to understand. Semis are big, we are not. Easy decision. It’s the same with stopping at red lights or not taking items off store shelves without paying for them.
The consequences outweigh the desire.
But what about the stuff God calls us to that seems outdated or over the top? The choices we see as no big deal? The things we hedge on, smudge, create our own rules for, justify… because we just don’t see the point in God’s way of doing it?
This is when we need to remember that God is always out for our best.
He built us. He knows us. He has a brilliant plan.
He’s not robbing us of fun or stifling our very souls (as we may dramatically tell ourselves) He is protecting us from the semis that will take us out. He’s no stick in the mud, He is guarding us from choices that will splat our soul, harm our hearts, trap us in addiction or destroy relationships.
So here’s to identifying our personal rebellions, our “no big deals,” our areas of choosing not to listen to the One who loves us most and has our back.
Maybe now is the time to quell the rebel and trust…
He’s got us. And He’s good.
2 Responses
Elsa, wow. As always. So very true.
Thank you so much, John!