Why So Many “Thou Shalt Not”?

Does it seem to you that God is always saying “No” or “Don’t do that” or “Thou shalt not?” If you think that, you are not alone. Many people feel the same way. Seems as if all He wants to do is stop them from enjoying life. And it also seems to them that if they do ignore His “I said No,” and go ahead with a little fun, He is always nearby to drop a fifty-pound anvil on their head. No wonder people make fun of those who insist that “God is loving, just look in the Bible and you can plainly read that He is!”

So, which is He – the Chief Anvil Deliverer or Loving Father? People say that their experiences teach that He’s harsh and cruel. The Bible teaches that He’s the total opposite of that. So how to explain it?

Let me use this:

God is the one who created sex and gave it to us. And yet, the Bible plainly states, “Do not indulge in sex outside of marriage.” Another one of those “Thou shalt not have any fun” that nobody understands or likes. Why in the world did He create something fun, give it to us, and then tell us, “Don’t you dare do this.”

Today, sex outside of marriage is totally accepted and very much expected. Ask any teen or young adult. It’s extremely difficult to be the young person in the crowd who is known to be ‘just plain weird.’ Virgins are the brunt of jokes everywhere. And when this kind of bullying is combined with most everyone’s natural need to fit in – plus the lure of sex itself – the pressure to go along is almost unbearable.

But let’s play Paul Harvey with the rest of the story. Way too many times.

Teen girl has sex. Gets pregnant. Mom and Dad disapprove and kick her to the curb. The baby’s daddy wants nothing to do with this new responsibility. So now she has to find a way – on her own – to finish school, provide for herself financially, raise a baby alone, and try to make a decent life. All too often, she feels she has to take the only road available. She moves in with a loser, who uses her until he’s sick of her and boots her out. Then she is on her own again. Maybe pregnant, and now with a toddler by the hand. And the downward spiral continues on.

And I haven’t even addressed the toll it takes on that girl’s self-esteem.

Easy to see why God said, “DON’T HAVE SEX OUTSIDE OF MARRIAGE!” Life is hard enough when a committed young married couple has a baby, and together they are trying to financially survive on meager salaries. But being in the situation of that teen girl? Almost impossible. And God knew that.

That’s why He says “No.”