Why Do We Transgress...

I have a calendar at work that has a different verse on it daily. Today's verse was from 2 Chronicles 24:20. It said..."...Thus saith God, Why transgress ye the commandments of the LORD, that ye cannot prosper?..." I was meditating on this verse and it got me to thinking....

Rules, rules, rules. Even as adults...there are so many "rules" (young people....I know you have heard it before...but don't think that "growing up" gets rid of rules. It actually increases in number AND in the severity of consequences in breaking them...arrive to work on time...drive the speed limit...pay your taxes, etc.)

The Bible says "To him who knows to do right and doeth it not, to him it is sin". If you knowingly break a "rule", you are sinning. Even if there aren't "written" or "formal" rules, if we know we should do "right" and we don't...we have sinned. (This verse always comes to mind when I pass a piece of trash carelessly thrown to the side 2 feet away from the trash can. I don't WANT to pick it up...but I usually do...because it is the right thing to do). A focus on the "rules" can be frustrating.

But...what if instead of thinking of the "rules" as a necessary evil, we focus on the product of obedience to those rules. God's blessings. Each of us were created/born with our own vices, and some things come easier to some than others, but if we choose to remember that God's "rules" are not meant to be grievous to us...but serve as a means for God to prosper us...maybe our outlook will improve. I like that thought better.