Webmaster's musing…
It’s easy to think about the Ten Commandments as ten rules. They become "laws," and pastors may use them in sermons as the “Ten Commandment Law.” Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not about to suggest that they aren’t authoritative. After all, God did write them with His own finger on tables of stone. That’s pretty emphatic. A lot of people take this a step further, and argue that “the Law has been done away with.” They take “the Law” as something restrictive and even bad that was given to the Jews. Christians don’t need to bother themselves with it. But what does Paul say? “The Law is Holy” (Rom 7:12). That’s a long way from “abolished.” At the same time, Paul is quite adamant that the Law isn’t supposed to be misused. Let’s back up a minute. When Paul talks about “the Law,” he’s talking about Torah, the books of Moses, or the first five books of the Bible. He’s not talking about a list of legislation. And when the Ten Commandments are discussed, we shouldn’t talk about them that way, either. Let’s look at them with a different set of glasses. The first commandment says that we aren’t supposed to have any other gods in Yahweh’s presence. This makes Him exclusive. And that sets up a relationship. Yahweh wants to be our one and only. That says lots about what He thinks about us. We are valuable to Him. The second commandment bans idols. If Yahweh is our one and only, idols would interfere with our relationship with Him. In one way it would be like a man keeping pictures of old girlfriends up on the walls after he gets married. Duh! Not taking God’s name in vain seems pretty simple, too. That would be a great way to dis the most important person in our lives. Why would we want to do that? The Sabbath is a great time to set all that fuss and bother from the other six days aside. It’s not about rules. It’s not about being religious. It’s about taking time out to spend with God and family. It should be fun! (Isa 58:13 – BTW, that verse is talking about taking time away from your business, not away from pleasure.) What a great way to build relationships! Honoring one’s parents reflects how we honor our heavenly Father. God gave us families (in part) to help us learn to love the way He does. We could go on. The other five have the same kind of meaning. Every time we break one of the Commandments, we are breaking our relationship with God. That’s why Joseph refused to sleep with Potiphar’s wife. He would be sinning against his relationship with God (Gen 39:9). That’s why obedience to God’s commandments comes out of love (John 14:15). We can read the emphatic nature of Jesus’ statement as a command, but that cheapens His statement. I prefer it this way: If you love Me, of course you will keep my commandments! You wouldn’t think of doing things any other way! --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Deaf-Blind Inspirational Life Group" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/DBILG?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
