A Rule of Life

A Rule of Life
EXODUS 20: 1- 21

As a seminary professor in England, it was my task to ask the students who were my particular pastoral responsibility about their rule of life. The idea of a rule of life had become popular, though maybe the idea was more popular than actually keeping a rule. A rule of life might cover the pattern of your church worship, your Bible reading and prayer, your fasting and giving, and your reflection on your relationship with God. It might also cover how much time you spent shopping or taking exercise, how much you drank and ate, what time you went to bed, how much hospitality you offer people, whether you go on retreat and spend time in silence. It might cover how you handled tricky areas of life such as sex. Many Christians used to be hesitant about the idea of a rule of life because it seemed legalistic, but it doesn’t have to be. Ask someone a few questions about those areas of life, and you are pretty sure to generate an agenda for a conversation that can last quite a long time...