God’s Rules: The True Foundation of Freedom

Earlier this year, I decided to teach my young boys how to play chess. I had made an earlier attempt, but it was probably premature. This time around they caught the bug and now love to play on a regular basis.

At one point early in the process of learning how to play, Timothy (age five) said he wished the pieces could move any way he wanted. In other words, he didn’t want there to be any rules! I had to explain that if the pieces could move however we wanted them to, the game would always end on the first move. After all, if anything goes, the player who moved first would simply capture the opponent’s king with any piece of his choice. There would be absolutely nothing to prevent it. Interestingly, the very thing that Timothy thought would give him maximum freedom (no restrictions on how he could move his pieces) would literally make the game pointless and unplayable.