Rules of Hope

What is the first thing that comes to mind when someone says,

“Don’t touch!”

For most people, it would be “Why not?” This is then usually followed by the desire to…? Touch!

People don’t like rules. Why? Because most people don’t like to be limited. They think, “I’ll do what I want! Don’t tell me how to live my life!”

Now take that thought and apply it to the Bible. Many people think-
“Who is this person in the clouds? What gives him the right to tell me how to live my life?”
“Isn’t the Bible just a bunch of rules that limit my life and make it boring?”

But are these statements actually true? Is the Bible a book of rules to limit your life? Did God give people the rules found in the Bible to make our lives boring? Or—

Did a loving God create people in His image?
Did those He created choose to sin, separating themselves from God and opening the door to pain, struggles, and death?
Did that loving God make a way to end His creation’s suffering and give His Word to explain how to fix mankind’s problem of sin?