Laws for Protection

You know that rule about biking only on the right side of the street (unless it's a one-way street, on which you may ride on the left, if you can get there safely)? It, and certain other traffic rules, seemed somewhat pointless to me, and especially inconvenient. On my commute to school each morning, I need to go west from my street, but my street connects to a one-way street going east. Usually, I just go west, against the flow of traffic, and then get onto the right side of the road when it's convenient for me, but I won't be doing that today. Recently, a friend of mine got into an accident by riding on the wrong side of the street. Thankfully, they're mostly okay, but it was something of a wake-up call for me, and it reminded me that some laws exist for good reasons. At least, God's laws certainly do.

Sometimes, certain commandments don't make sense to us, and almost always, they're at least a little bit inconvenient. Sometimes, we try to bend the rules or justify breaking them, mostly because we don't really understand why they exist and what they do for us. Just like the rule to ride on the right side of the street, God's commandments exist to protect us. We live in a dangerous world, full of alluring temptations to follow the wrong paths. Sometimes it's difficult, or at least inconvenient, to find and follow the right path, but that's what keeps us safe. And one of God's top priorities is to keep His children safe. That's why He gave us commandments - to help us keep from getting hurt and from hurting each other. I don't always keep God's commandments or do everything I should, and I usually get burned when I don't. So today, I'm going to try to make better choices. For one thing, for today at least, I'm going to make sure I stay on the right side of the road.