Do's and Don'ts

I was wondering recently if we have become a people of don'ts instead of do's. What do I mean? Glad you asked. How do you feel when you hear a list of things you can't do rather than a list of what you can?
When I had my first child I was constantly telling him things like don't eat the dog food, don't eat the paste, don't drink the toilet water.
True story: When Anthony was about 2 years old we lived in an old house in New York. The window sills were low to the ground so he could see out his bedroom Windows. I walked into his room one day as he was watching this unexplored world outside his window and wondered what he was thinking. When I called his name he turned around and to my horror could see half a bug sticking out of his sweet little mouth with it's legs still moving.
I now had to add to my list, don't eat bugs unless your wearing camel hair, they are locust and your initials are JTB.
My daughter on the other hand loved to run around in just her diaper, this kid hated clothes so to her list I had to add don't take your clothes off in the mall...
I'm sure you have your own list.
One of the best pieces of advice I got as a young mother of 2 toddlers was any time you took something away from your child replace it with something else. This was great advice.
I could take the scissor from Anthony's hand and replace it with a wooden spoon and as long as I had a big smile on my face he thought he was getting the better end of the deal.
If we are the kind of parents or employees or friends that have a constant list of don'ts it can be exhausting for those in our lives to have a relationship with us and can often lead to secrecy.
Don't tell mom I did this. Don't let the boss know about that. Gems it is exhausting trying to constantly win the affection of someone. This applies to having a relationship with Jesus too.
Don't get me wrong I'm not saying rules are wrong BUT what if in our Christian walk we become too focused on the don'ts?
Don't smoke, don't do drugs, don't lie, don't curse, don't nag. Again all good advice but they make people think they have to get all the don'ts out of the way before they can have a relationship with Jesus.
This of course could not be further from the truth. Once we experience Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit all these things will eventually be taken care of. Trust me He's still working on my don'ts list.
We are a selfish people that want to know what's in it for us so let's use that to our advantage.
What if we focused on do you want to have a relationship with Jesus? You get to and all you have to do is believe.
John 6:29 Jesus answered”The work of God is this to believe in the one he has sent.”
What if gave you a list of Do's you get with being a child of God such as:
1. a delightful inheritance Psalm 16:6
2. Sweet communion with God Psalm 17:15
3. experience unfailing love, be filled with good things Psalm 107: 8-9
4. Never be hungry or thirsty again, be fully satisfied. John 6:35
5.Be free from the love of money, be content with what I have, have a helper that will never leave me! Hebrews 13:5-6

What if we changed the things you don't think about like sex outside of marriage, gossiping, pornography, lust you get the point and change it to a Do think about list:
Philippians 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.
I'm just sayin adults are not much different than toddlers take something away and replace it with something else with a big smile on your face and see what happens.
So Gems, as always, I would encourage you today to see if your a don't talker or a do talker. Let's all try to encourage each other with positive words and let the Holy Spirit DO what He does best, fix the don'ts.