God's House Rules

The sun was bright, early this morning at my favorite downtown church. But some of the guys were wrapped in their blankets because of the cold.

Still, they were their friendly, "Yes Ma'am", Southern selves, and thanked me for the Kleenex, the apples, and best of all "God's House Rules." As I mingled with the group eating their breakfast and milling around the park shelter, I rhymed off the Rules loud enough for several to hear at a time. When I did they reached out their hands for a copy.

As one said to me, "We need to know God's Rules."

My response is, "In the instant you are born again, God writes these rules on your heart, so you have inner strength to do them."

God's commandments are not burdensome. They are a joy to someone who has them written on his heart. They are second nature to you. Jesus' nature!

These are God's House Rules as penned by Isaac Watts 200 years ago. Here, try memorizing them yourself sometime when you are sitting on a park bench, sick and sad and wondering what you did wrong to make your life so bad.

Then ask Jesus, the perfect Lamb of God who lives inside you to help you walk out His Father's House Rules for family members, and see if He doesn't start sorting things out in your life.

The Ten Commandments to Memorize

Thou shalt have no other gods but ME,

Before no idol bow thy knee,

Take not the Name of God in vain,

Nor dare the Sabbath day profane,

Give both thy parents honor due,

And see that thou no murder do,

Abstain from words and deeds unclean,

Nor steal, though thou are poor and mean,

Nor make a willful lie, nor love it,

What is thy neighbor’s, do not covet.