No Changing the Rules

An Unfair Change

Have you ever, perhaps when you were a child, played a game with someone who changed the rules in the middle of the game? Maybe it was a game you had never played before and, always right before a move that would benefit your opponent, he\she reveals a rule they “forgot” to tell you. Or maybe it was a game of “cops and robbers” or a variation; you use your weapon against your opponent and he\she suddenly has a “shield.”

These kinds of scenarios are at best frustrating and at worst destroy any goodwill or enjoyment that the game was supposed to bring. Added to this, it is sad reality that sometimes changing the rules follows us into adult life. How many examples within the judicial system exist where someone powerful or influential avoided punishment? How many criminals have been set free based upon contrived technicalities or a literal “gaming” of the system?

An Unfortunate Cynicism

Too much exposure to games or systems where the rules can change midstream can make one cynical. However, if we are honest with ourselves, mankind has attempted that very same thing with God throughout history.

God was very plain about the “rules” of life. When only one such rule existed, man broke it. In the years that followed and sin was defined through the giving of law, man still continues to break the rules time and again. Man even goes so far to attempt to “re-write” the rules to his own liking – sometimes congratulating himself in doing so.

God’s Unchanging Rules

When God warns man of the consequences of his actions, man’s reply is to deny it, or to claim he has some kind of “shield” to protect him from condemnation. Sometimes man chooses to ignore the “game” completely by denying that the Game-Maker even exists. The final insult occurs when God, without changing the rules Himself, sent One to provide a way to still win, yet man still chooses to ignore Him as well.

The truth is that man can try to “change the rules” for himself or deny the “rules” entirely. One day it is not going to matter. You might be able to cheat man, but you cannot “change the rules” with God.