Didn't I Tell You Not To Do That?

"Stay always within the boundaries where God's love can reach and bless you."
Jude 1:21 TLB

Written 1/27/95
I know Courtney sometimes thinks I'm just "blowing hot air" when I tell her not to do something. The truth is I'm trying to protect her. Just last night I told her not to take her juice out of the kitchen, but as children will do, she did it anyway. A few minutes later she came and told me "Mama, I'm afraid to tell you, but I spilled my juice on the carpet." I said, "Didn't I tell you not to do that, now you're in trouble.” Another time I had told her not to stand on the furniture, but of course, when I was out of the room, she and a friend tried running up and down on the couch. I heard a big "thump" and a loud "scream". She had flipped over, head first, onto the end table and into the floor. I told her the reason I had told her to stay off the furniture is so she wouldn't get hurt, not so she couldn't have fun.

God gives us rules to live by, not to just "blow hot air" but to protect us, to keep us from getting in trouble. He can see if we "run on the couch" we're going to fall or if we "take the juice out of the kitchen" we're going to get into trouble! When we do fall or get in trouble He will say, "Now didn't I tell you not to do that?" Let's remember that God's rules are not to keep us from having fun - they are to protect us!