Play By the Rules

I have always been a big sports guy. My fondest memories from childhood are about being on the field, any field really. Whether it was baseball, basketball, football, hockey, volleyball, horseshoes, even ball and jacks, if it was a competition I was in. I loved to compete at any sport.

While many sports are extremely different from one another by the way score is kept, they all have one important factor in common: THERE ARE RULES.

A winner is only crowned when he competes and excels according to the rules. It would not be much of a competition if the rules were not in place. Can you imagine the chaos at a race where there are no rules and no marked out course? How could you determine who was the fastest if they did not run the same course?

"And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully." - 2 Tim 2:5

Many sports figures have been banished in shame because they did not compete according to the rules. The rules are put in place to assure everyone that the playing field is even and fair for all. In some cases the rules are put in place to prevent injury or harm to the competitors.

I think it is fair to say that rules in sports are a good thing intended to bring about a good result. Rules are not there to serve as an annoyance but rather to enhance the sporting experience.

Why is it that people think just the opposite when it comes to morality and ethics? Why is it that the world seems to be spiraling toward an "anything goes" mentality when it comes to morality and ethics? Have you ever heard anyone say "Don't tell me what I can or cannot do"? Most of us probably have. There is a sense in which people today have arrived at where the nation Israel was thousands of years ago. Judges 21:25 says "In those days there was no king in Israel. Every man did that which was right in his own eyes." That turned out to be disastrous for Israel. It was shortly after this point that they were taken captive. A very dark period indeed.

I could quote many many verses here to support my point but I will only give you one. I think this verse says it well.

Isaiah 5:20 - "Woe unto them that call evil good and good evil."