當我還是小男孩的時候，媽媽告誡我絕不能玩火。但有一天，我決定放手一試，看看會發生什麼事。我拿了一包火柴和一些紙，到院子裡去作實驗。我跪在地上，屏氣斂息地劃火柴點燃紙堆。

突然，我看見媽媽走過來。為了不想被逮個正著，我雙腳踩在紙堆上，想要掩飾我做的「好事」。但是媽媽大叫：「丹尼！快走開，腳下有火！」幸好我及時跑開，腳才沒有被燒到。那時我才了解，媽媽規定我不准玩火，不是要剝奪我的樂趣，而是關心我的安全。

有時候，我們無法理解上帝為何要立下各種誡命。我們甚至會想，祂真是掃興大王，為了不讓我們享樂，便制定各樣的規條律例。但上帝要我們順服祂，是為我們著想。我們順服祂時，就「常在祂的愛裡」，並且充滿喜樂（約翰福音15章10-11節） 。

因此當上帝告誡我們不要犯罪時，乃是為我們的好處著想。祂實在想保護我們免於「玩火自焚」。

When I was a young boy, my mom warned me that I should never play with fire. Yet one day I decided to see what would happen if I did. Taking a book of matches and some paper, I went out into the backyard to experiment. With heart beating fast, I knelt on the ground, struck the match, and set the paper aflame.

Suddenly I saw my mother approaching. Not wanting to get caught, I put my legs over the flames to hide what I was doing. But Mom shouted, “Denny, move your legs! There’s a fire underneath them!” Fortunately, I moved my legs quickly enough and was not burned. I realized then that my mother’s rule about not playing with fire was not to spoil my fun but because of her concern to keep me safe.

Sometimes we don’t understand the reasons behind God’s commands. We may even think He is a cosmic killjoy, setting up rules and regulations to keep us from enjoying ourselves. But God asks us to obey Him because He has our best interests at heart. As we obey, we “remain in his love” and are filled with joy (John 15:10-11).

So when God warns us not to sin, He does it for our own good. He really wants to protect us from “playing with fire” and getting burned.