Isaiah 28:9

Just Do's and Don'ts

Isaiah 28:9-13
"Who is it he is trying to teach? To whom is he explaining his message? To children weaned from their milk, to those just taken from the breast? For it is: Do and do, do and do, rule on rule, rule on rule; a little here, a little there." Very well then, with foreign lips and strange tongues God will speak to this people, to whom he said, "This is the resting place, let the weary rest"; and, "This is the place of repose"— but they would not listen. So then, the word of the LORD to them will become: Do and do, do and do, rule on rule, rule on rule; a little here, a little there— so that they will go and fall backward, be injured and snared and captured.

To the immature a parent's commands are just a bunch of do's and don'ts; rule upon rule. They see only the letter and miss the spirit. The immature reluctantly obey if at all. But the mature understand the intent behind the rule or command. They endorse it and follow its intention. The Christian life and godly living is not primarily about following rules - doing some things and not doing other things. It's first about being, it's about attitude. Those born of God find rest in Christ. They obey God's commands, but don't find the commands burdensome. "This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world." 1John 5:3,4 But those immature and deficient in saving faith burden themselves with legalism and fall out of the faith. While calling themselves "Christian" yet the gospel is as if foreign to them.

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