Following Regulations: Doing No Harm

Monday Ministerial Musings

By Rev. Mark William Ennis

2022 Blog #5

February 7, 2022

Following Regulations: Doing No Harm

A few weeks ago, I sat in my car and wasted ten minutes of my life. I wasn’t alone in this time-wasting activity. Several, if not dozens of other motorists shared my fate. We all were stuck on Main Street in Bergenfield. A bus was attempting to turn right but was precluded from doing so. A small truck was parked in the spot marked “no parking here to corner sign.”  This small truck made it impossible for the bus in front of me to make the right turn. Those of us behind the bus had no choice but to sit and wait while the bus driver beeped the horn and waited for the parked truck to be moved. The driver of the small truck had disobeyed a parking regulation and many of us were inconvenienced by it. This gives me one more example that our actions affect others and we need to live mindful of that.

I’m not claiming to be perfect. When the post office lot is full and the parking spaces are occupied I have at times been tempted to park in that “no parking here to corner” space. I have resisted that temptation and frequently wondered why such a marker is put in what looks like a great parking spot.

Laws and regulations are not perfect. Some make sense to us and others do not. Yet, in most cases, they are put in place to be a  blessing to us. Disobeying them can be harmful to others. I’m not speaking here of just human regulations, but also of God’s law. Many of us grew up memorizing the Ten Commandments. Memorizing them seemed boring to us as Sunday School students. The word “commandment” seemed oppressive when I was young but the older I get, the happier I am that I was required to memorize those commandments.

Living by law, both God’s law and human laws, keep us from doing harm to others. We may think that we are smarter than law but many smart people took years to develop the laws that we have. They are in place to protect us from others and others from us. If we don’t follow them, we risk doing harm to others.

I urge everyone who is a person of faith to obey the laws that we live under. It helps us do no harm and gives a good witness to those who lack faith who are watching us. 

#ReformedChurchInAmerica                                 #PastorMarkAuthor            

#BergenCounty                                                        #BergenfieldNJ

#Regulations                                                             #DoNoHarm

#TenCommandments                                             #FaithfulWitnesses

To read more of Pastor Mark’s writings, please order copy of his book: https://deepriverbooks.com/books/the-circle-of-seven/