The Ten Commandments
Daily Reading: Exodus 20, Psalm 70, Acts 26, Proverbs 11
And God spoke all these words:
“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.”
“You shall have no other gods before me.”
“You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.”
“You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.”
“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”
“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.”
“You shall not murder.”
“You shall not commit adultery.”
“You shall not steal.”
“You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
Exodus 20:1-17
I was struck by something specific today when reading the 10 Commandments.
This is a set of commandments from God that we have all grown up with if you were raised in the church.
We all know the list.
You shall not murder, steal, commit adultery, lie…
All seem pretty straight forward.
I was struck today by the inclusion of three commandments in this list.
Alongside murder, theft, and adultery are remembering the Sabbath, not creating idols, and avoiding coveting things that belong to your neighbor.
It is easy to see why these are good, but to rise to the level of inclusion in the ten commandments?
God went on to give hundreds of laws to the Israelites, big and small. These were the big 10!
The reason these three struck me today is because, when it comes to these three, our society pulls us away constantly.
In fact, we live in a culture where we are encouraged to create idols of the things we want in life, chase after them, create a vision board of that car that someone else has, that house of your neighbors that you would rather be living in, and the list goes on.
We live in an idol culture and a culture that is built to drive us to coveting EVERYTHING!
On top of that we are pushed into a “hustle culture” to make all of this happen as quickly as we possibly can.
Who has time for the Sabbath?
God has a different plan for us. A better plan.
He wants our hearts focused on him.
It is fine to work hard. There will be blessings that come into your life as a result.
Never allow them to become an idol. Never allow these desires to turn into coveting. Never sacrifice the Sabbath.
If they were important enough to put up there next to murder, that is good enough for me!
Daily Reflection & Dialogue
Which of these commandments do you find it hardest to live out in your daily life?
