A hurricane is coming to Florida.  Maybe Saturday night.  Maybe not until Wednesday morning. I think.  Maybe it will veer north. We might get wind and rain.  We get wind and rain every day during the summer so that is not new.  Sun City Center is far enough inland to be safe from any storm surge. I am fascinated with the spaghetti model.  Mike’s Weather Page at https://spaghettimodels.com has everything a person might want to know about impending hurricanes.
 
Many of the current tracks have the storm making landfall just north of Miami and traveling along the Florida coast north to South Carolina and off into the Atlantic.  My favorite track is labelled ‘TABS’.  If the hurricane takes this path, it will make landfall nearer Daytona; cross Florida out to the Gulf of Mexico north of Tampa; make an about face hitting Florida north of Naples and head north into the Atlantic again near Miami.  
 
Today I filled the truck with gas, replaced the camping lantern using two 6-volt batteries with a couple led light bars and Alan bought some bottled drinking water. When ’H-day’ comes, we will move everything from the screen porch to the entry hall, bring in the potted plants, and fill the bathtub with water for the toilet just in case.   
 
We are ready.  Nothing to do now but sit and wait and wait and worry. Or, live our lives confident in the Fathers love.  Luke 12:22-23  ‘ Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes.’   Read Luke 12:22-34 and consider God’s care for you. 

​Several days past I became obsessed with the rules of the pool when there was a somewhat heated discussion between the pool security person and a guest.  I investigated the rules posted at the pool deck entrances, the rules posted in the Club House Policies and Procedures document on-line, and the rules I had heard (tradition) but could not verify.  You will be happy to know I was writing a dissertation of how pool rules correlate to my Christian walk; but, after realizing it was a rant and perhaps as wordy as a dissertation, I have saved my ramblings for another day.
 
We have rules.  Adhering to the rules ensures society functions smoothly.  We have our favorite rules.  We have obsolete rules.  And we have rules of which we say, ‘every good rule was made to be broken.’  We have national rules, state rules, county rules, HOA rules, affinity group rules, health rules, etc. and those ever-present rules of tradition.   Daily we choose the rules we follow and those we ignore.      
 
Christians have rules just as every other group:  1. The Old Testament law; 2. New Testament instructions; 3. denominational rules; 4. local church rules; and 5. tradition.  
 
According to the ‘experts’ on the internet, there are 613 laws in the Old Testament. Additionally, various groups have counted between 1050 and 1200 rules in the New Testament; of these, between 30 and 50 are attributed to Jesus. The remaining, then, are found in the writings to the early church. Which of these apply to me?  Jesus said he came to fulfill the Old Testament Law.  The Apostle Paul points out that those who are born again are free from the Law (Rom 7:1-6; Gal 3:25).  I glad I am not responsible for learning and following the 613 laws found in the Old Testament.  
 
What does Jesus expect of his followers?   Does he expect of me?  Jesus sums up the Law and the Prophets in Matthew 7:12: ‘In everything, do to others what you would have them do to you.’  In Luke 10: 27 - 28 Jesus tells the expert in the law his answer to the question, ‘what should I do to inherit eternal life?’ is correct.  "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"
 
And the other instructions in the New Testament?  I’m glad I am not the judge or jury hearing arguments for this rule or that.  I am thankful: “for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.“ (Phil.2:13). And when I miss the mark, I trust God who is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9 )