“Now these are the rules that you shall set before them.”
– Exodus 21:1
Very simply what’s happening here at this point in the book of Exodus is God is giving his rules to his people. His laws, his commands for how they’re to live. As soon as I say that, like rules, commands, laws, I’m guessing there arises in many of us, not most of us, like almost a resistance. We don’t usually love rules and laws and commands, but I want you to think about the grace of God in this.
God’s Commands Give Us Life
God has not left us in the dark when it comes to how we can experience life with him, for our good and for his glory. He has spoken, that’s what he’s doing here in Exodus 21:1, he’s giving his word that leads to life. That’s what he does all throughout scripture, he gives us his word that leads to life. It is right and good and wise for us to listen to these rules, to read through scripture. Meditate on it, hear God’s law, and obey it. Knowing that we find life in it.
God gives us His Word that leads to life, so it is good and right for us to listen to His law and obey it.
Exodus 21:1: Asking for Help With Obeying God’s Commands
So we pray, God, help us to hear your rules and laws, and commands, with an open heart. Help us not to be resistant to them. God help us to be wise. We think about how foolish it would be oh God for us to ignore your rules, laws, and commands. God help us to hear them. God, we pray that we would daily be in your word. Listening to it, reading it, memorizing it, meditating on it, thinking about it all the time, and then applying it. Doing it, obeying it in our lives.
God, we pray that our lives would be marked by hearing your rules and obeying them. Hearing your law and obeying it. Make us that kind of people. In the process, we trust that we will experience life as you’ve designed it to be lived. God just like you gave your word to your people in Exodus, we praise you for giving us your word, to us, help us to hear, listen to it and obey it and to live according to it, in Jesus name we pray, amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
