Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

• Matthew 11:28

As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him.

• Mark 1:16-18

Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.

• Romans 8:12-13

“The questions that matter in life are remarkably few, and they are all answered by these words ‘Come unto me’. Not—’Do this’ and ‘Don’t do that’, but ‘Come’ …
“Have you ever come to Jesus? Watch the stubbornness of your heart and mind, you will find you will do anything rather than the one simple, childlike thing—Come. Be stupid enough to come, and commit yourself to what Jesus says. The attitude of coming is that the will resolutely lets go of everything and deliberately commits the whole thing to Jesus. At the most unexpected moments there comes the whisper of the Lord—‘Come unto me’, and we are drawn to Him. Personal contact with Jesus alters everything. He meets our sins, our sorrows, and our difficulties with the one word-‘Come’.”

• Oswald Chambers, Daily Thoughts for Disciples (April 21, from As He Walked)

I grew up in a family of rules.  And my mother’s favorite line was “Because I said so.”  And requesting a discussion of the matter was like the unpardonable sin.

Every family should have rules.  Not all of them do.  Every child needs boundaries, and some children have never experienced boundaries until school forces the wild child into them.  But there should be reasons for those rules.  There should be discussion about those rules.  If we looked at the Ten Commandments, they just make sense when you know about God.  They make such sense that they seem practical.  We can live by a rule here or there that makes sense, keeps us out of trouble, and keeps us safe.

But you can slowly, with your children, start approaching the rules from a different direction.  If you have clearly communicated the reasons for why you do something, then you can have them decide how to handle new situations based on the reasons why you had those rules.  When the reasons for the rule becomes loving one another, loving your neighbor, and loving your enemy, you know how to do it and why.

Relationships then drive the behavior, and the behavior is driven by love.  We are coming unto Him.  We want to be more like Him.

Then it is not about the rules anymore.  It is about loving one another and especially loving the One who we come to.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.