Not Endless, Only!

Deuteronomy 4:2 Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it,
but keep the commands of the LORD your God that I give you. 

     I hate it when playing a game and the rules change right when I am about to get ahead. I think this is a universal feeling. I know it is with my grandchildren. I hear them in the backyard as they play a game. When the rules change these words ring out: "That's not fair!" And an argument ensures.
     None of us like living and working in a situation where the rules seem to change all the time. It makes life intolerable. We all have the innate drive to succeed. But when the rules change, success becomes increasingly frustrating. (Unless of course you are the one who gets to change the rules!)
     Some people wonder what God wants from them, what His standards are. They flit and fly around from this to that in an effort to find some path that will lead to God but not require too much change on their part. They want comfortable rather than righteous. They want the broad road rather than the narrow road, to quote Jesus.
     So as Moses, the ancient leader of the people of Israel, is saying his final words to them before he dies, he tells them to keep it simple. He says: don't add, don't subtract, just obey.
     The LORD doesn't have an endless list of things for us to do in order to live the kind of life that pleases Him and best fits with our humanity and our purpose. The list is really pretty short.
     He might not have an endless list, but there is a list. There are things that cross time and culture that are always right and wrong. There are things that consistently show up on the list. The Ten Commandments is one such list. Notice it is ten, not eleven, not twenty five, not 10,000.
     So in your life today, what are the things you are supposed to be doing to demonstrate to the world that Jesus has made an eternal difference in your life?