Then Moses cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became fit to drink. There the Lord issued a ruling and instruction for them and put them to the test. He said, “If you listen carefully to the Lord your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, who heals you.”
– Exodus 15:25-26 (NIV)
Very few people like to talk about it, but God has expectations for how we should live. Individually and collectively. The naysayers and critics decry these boundaries as harsh impositions. Granted, over the years religious people have had some silly and even overbearing rules. They had them in Jesus’ day as well. But there is no escaping the fact that God has boundaries, and we are told time and time again throughout the Scriptures that humanity is better off when we live within those boundaries. Why, you might ask? Because within God’s boundaries we can live free from the personal consequences of sin and we can enjoy his presence fully.