FAMILY IT! — Wednesday Family Devotional — “House Rules or House Ruler”

Supplies: Bible

SHARE 

I love to play games.  Board games, card games, video games—I like ‘em all.  In part, I think it’s a compensation for my childhood.  I did not grow up in a gaming family.  We had plenty of games in the house, we just never played them together.  As a result, most of my game-playing happened at friends’ houses.  It was there that I learned about the phenomenon called “house rules.”  In case you’re unfamiliar, this is the recognized suspension or alteration of standard, accepted game rules for the sake of family or group preferences.  For example, the instructions for Trivial Pursuit say you can only earn a pie piece if you land on one of the six “wedge spots.”  But when I went to my friend Tricia’s house to play, their house rules were that you could get a piece for any question answered correctly.  (Obviously they were looking for a faster-paced game.)  I eventually learned different house rules for when it was ok to slide in Sorry, whose hand you could pick from when you played Old Maid with three or more players, and whether or not you had to go back if, in Candy Land, you drew the Gingerbread Tree card when you were already way past that spot.

I admit, while I appreciated the variations in house rules, at times they drove me batty.  It was hard to keep up with each little customization.  What are some house rules your family has?  What about house rules your friends have for the same games?

READ

The Pharisees were starting to worry that maybe Jesus had His own “house rules” when it came to the Scriptures.  They’d noticed He didn’t always follow the Law the same way they did, and I’m sure the rumors started shortly after.  Read Matthew 5:17-20 together to see Jesus’ response to this theory.

THINK

This passage is a challenging one, in part because has a wide array of interpretations.  Some look at Jesus’ statement about fulfilling the Law and the Prophets and believe that means the Law doesn’t apply to us anymore.  Others focus on verse 18 where Jesus basically says pigs will fly before the Law is changed.  See, it’s challenging, right?  Which is the correct interpretation?  

The confusion has unfortunately resulted in a lot of “house rules” when it comes to living out faith.  We’ve become masters at picking and choosing which laws and teachings we want to abide by and which ones we’re convinced aren’t relevant any more.  We’ve also become masters at justifying our choices. 

Jesus overturned the table in the temple, so that means it’s totally ok that I unleash on some kid at school who’s been pushing my buttons.

Jesus called the Pharisees a “brood of vipers,” so that means it’s fine that I hone my name-calling skills for the refs at the next game. 

Jesus said that no food was unclean, so that means I can eat whatever I want in whatever quantities.

And since Jesus didn’t have any romantic relationships, I can make up those rules however I want.

Sound familiar?  If it’s not something you see in your own faith walk, I’m sure you’ve noticed it in others.  We modify and tweak the Word to make it fit our own preferences and end goals.  I saw this clearly for the first time when I was a young youth pastor.  One of the pillars in my youth group had begun making questionable life choices, so I called him in to talk with him.  I pointed out how well he understood scripture, as evidenced by his contribution during group discussions.  Based on what he knew about Jesus, did he think he was making wise, Christ-like decisions in his life?  This is what he told me: “I know that Jesus loves me and will forgive me for any sins I commit.  I also know I’m only going to be young once, and I want to have fun while I can.  So I’m going to live up my teens and twenties, and then when I’m older, I’ll come back and ask Jesus to forgive me.  Then I can live the rest of my adult years in close relationship with him.”  I was dumbfounded.  It was almost 15 years ago, but it still makes my heart hurt to remember.  This amazing teen had developed his own house rules for faith, and it ended up leading him down a dark pathway, one that ultimately severed his relationship with Jesus.

We can get caught up in the “rules” of the Law, but here’s what’s being said in this passage.  Jesus is calling us to His rule.  Not His rules, His rule.  He wants us to allow Him to be the Ruler of our hearts, the Lord of our lives.  He doesn’t want us obsessing over a long list of do’s and don’t’s.  He wants us obsessing over Him!  He wants us making Jesus the absolute center of everything we do.  If we do that, if we make Jesus our House Ruler, then everything else will fall into place.

APPLY

Are there any house rules you’ve developed when it comes to your faith life?  Maybe some of them are family-wide adaptations, or maybe they’re personal and just apply to you.  Depending on your situation, you may gather together as a family and boldly confess how you’ve chosen to ignore or alter Jesus’ teachings.  Or you may want to take time by yourselves in personal prayer time.  Whichever you do, I challenge you to name, to confess to Jesus any “house rules” He’s revealed to you.  Then ask Him to be your Ruler instead of your Rule-Maker.  Allow Him to begin to change how you see everything, including the Bible, in the light of Him.

PRAY

Jesus, You are the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings.  Your rule is inevitable and undeniable.  Yet we live in a culture that focuses more on the rules than the rule.  We look to the list of behaviors instead of the leader.  Help us now as we turn our eyes away from the words and focus instead on You, the Living Word.  In Your Holy Name we pray, Amen.

REPLY

Did you and your family enjoy this devotional blog?  We'd love to know about it!  Our hope is to continue providing this weekly opportunity for families to do a devotion together.  If your family did this devotion, please shoot us an email, text or just post a comment to this blog.