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I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. 11
For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death.
Oh how our human wisdom gets us in trouble. When we look on the surface of so many things we see just that, the surface. As a boy growing up I loved to take things apart. Sometimes I could even get them back together again with no spare parts! Sometimes they would even work again! I was not satisfied with the shiny exterior, I wanted to know what was inside. That curiosity has both served me well, and gotten me in trouble down through the years. The military is about rules and regulations. They have at least one for every possible occasion. Those rules are good if things stay the same, but when new circumstances arise that were unknown at the time of the writing of the rules, the rules don’t apply any more. We can see that in combat situations. Decisions on the ground, in the heat of battle, have to be made, not based on rules, but on principles. Sometimes those decisions violate the rules. The intent of the rules was to protect, but the outcome was death. Spiritual life can never be found in rules. If we seek spiritual life in rule-keeping we will always be disappointed in ourselves and others. The purpose of a rule is to point out the infraction not the compliance. Are you living by rules in an effort to please God? If you are, you will only be disappointed.
The Arnold Journey 