The Commandments

28 Jul

“Once you depart from the Ten Commandments as being the foundation of right and wrong, you are in a free fall.”  ~ Randall Terry

  1.  I, the Lord, am your God. You shall not have other gods besides me
  2.  You shall not take the name of the Lord God in vain
  3.  Remember to keep holy the Lord’s Day
  4.  Honor your father and your mother
  5.  You shall not kill
  6.  You shall not commit adultery
  7.  You shall not steal
  8.  You shall not bear false witness
  9.  You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife
  10.  You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods

As much as we would like to be in charge of every aspect of our lives, we realize that we are doomed if left to ourselves.  Our human nature is selfish and does not look out for others.  Left to our own devices, we would most likely hurt a great many people just so that we could get our own way.  We would hurt ourselves as well.

We need rules.

We learned that at a very early age.  The rules that our parents put before us were there for a reason.  Of course, being human, most of us probably decided, early on, that we were going to ignore our parents’ rules.  We chose to break those rules.  And, in the process, we probably hurt ourselves.  We found out that “hot” is not a good thing, that “sharp” hurts, that “careful” needs to be obeyed.

God gave His people rules as well.  Those rules, the Ten Commandments, were not given to us to make our lives miserable.  On the contrary, those rules were given to us in order to make our lives safe, wholesome, and complete.  When we break any of the commandments, we hurt ourselves and those around us.  We become less of the people that God wants us to be.  We hurt our relationship with God.

When we decide to live our lives outside the parameters of the Ten Commandments, we are doomed to fail and, if not caught before it is too late, we could be doomed to destruction.  God’s commandments are not burdensome.  They are not intrusive.  They are not impossible.  No.  God’s commandments are a reminder of that fact that He loves us completely and does not want to see any harm come to us.

Each of us are given a choice each day.  If we view our choices through the lens of the Ten Commandments, our choices will be wise and our lives will be that much for the better.

FAITH ACTION:  Use the Ten Commandments today as a basis for a complete examination of conscience.  If you are prompted to go to confession because of that examination, make a plan to do so.