day no. 14,315: obey and have fun

Psalm 40:8
I delight to do Your will, O my God; 
Your law is within my heart. 

Whenever Paige and I leave the kiddos with babysitters we leave them with two rules: 
(1) obey and (2) have fun.

If they obey, but don't have fun, no one has fun. Children are a blessing and what they add to our lives is not mere compliance, but liveliness and joy from the wellspring of childlike faith. 

If they have fun, but don't obey, no one else has fun. Children remind us that they're a blessing when they frolic in the pasture between the fence posts. 

Obey comes first, but having fun is mandatory. 

It's like when Jesus was asked which law was most important and replied, "Love God and love you neighbor." He was not unclear that love God comes first, but it is inseparable from what comes next: love your neighbor. How can you say you love God Whom you can't see if you don't love your neighbor whom you do?

In similar fashion, obedience is the first rule for the kiddos when mommy and daddy head out on a date, but it is inseparable from the command to have fun. When children obey, it makes it more fun for the babysitters. When they disobey, no one has fun.

Obedience brings about the opportunity for delight and the goal of the two rules is to keep "obey" as the driver of the train, but insisting that "have fun" not be left at the station. Obedience by itself is a good start, but it's an incomplete picture.

"The chief aim of order is to give room for good things to run wild." - G.K. Chesterton