Then God spoke all these words: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments. You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name. Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. For six days you shall labour and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it. Honour your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour. You shall not covet your neighbour’s house; you shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour. When all the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking, they were afraid and trembled and stood at a distance, and said to Moses, ‘You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, or we will die.’ Moses said to the people, ‘Do not be afraid; for God has come only to test you and to put the fear of him upon you so that you do not sin.’ Then the people stood at a distance, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was. (Exodus 20:1-21, NRSV)
The 10 Commandments are something we look upon as the basis of our life with God.
They are rules we must keep in order to be in a right relationship with Him.
And as they are stated above, and above I am not sure there are 10. If I count them going through the scripture there are more than 10… But as they are stated above, are not that hard to keep.
Honor God, keep His name holy, don’t pray to idols, take a day of rest, honor your parents, don’t murder, don’t have physical relationships apart from marriage, don’t steal, don’t bear false witness, don’t covet your neighbor’s house, don’t covet anything your neighbor has.
See just there in my list there are 11…
We get hung up on keeping these, and then Jesus comes along and makes it so it is impossible to keep, or is it?
Jesus tells us that thinking bad thoughts about someone is murder, and thinking lustful thoughts about someone is adultery, so how do we now keep these commandments?
But what if the commandments are not rules for us to keep to get in God’s good graces, what if the commandments are God’s rules for us as His beloved children.
You see these are the house rules, the ones that keep us safe and help us to have a blessed life.
And just like our children who we do not stone when they disobey us as Leviticus 20:9 says we are to do, we still love them. And so does God.
The rules are not set up as a way for you to be a part of the house, they are in place so that you can live peacefully in the house!
So think of the rules as a way to help you live in a good relationship with God and others, and use it for your benefit, not as a basis to keep you out if you can’t keep them…
aSacredRebel 