Murmur Not

"Do all things without murmurings and disputings:"  Philippians 2:14.  The will of God is to be obeyed without complaining.  The commandments of God cannot be improved by anyone.  And yet, many continue to make the attempt.  Some question whether or not God really means what He says.  Is there really any disputing that God has spoken and His rules are without validity?  What about Adam and Eve and their exit from the garden?  God does not speak idly.  His words have power.  We are to respond in precise obedience.  God is not too strict as some would argue.  Nadad and Abihu knew that God did not sanction "strange fire."  God is not too harsh.  Lot's wife knew that she should not look back.  The fiery eruption from the alter and the pillar of salt stand as memorials that we must not murmur against God.  The forgiveness of sin cannot be attained by murmuring.  Heaven is closed to the complainer.  And, we cannot pick and choose the laws that we would obey.  The passage says that we are to "do all things."  Obedient works are required for the salvation of the soul.  Murmuring removes the "fear and trembling" that God requires for salvation.  It, after all, is God who in benevolent grace offers pardon from the doom of sin.  Let us simply follow what He has spoken without murmurings and disputings.  A free gift from the Creator of the universe and the Savior of the human family surely has the right to set the terms of pardon.