Matthew 37-40 Jesus said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment and the second is like it; You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
How do we love God?
John 14:15 If you love Me keep My commandments.
1 Samuel 15:22 So Samuel said: “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifice, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed better than the fat of rams.” So it is better to keep God’s commandments than to donate the money to the big church and hate the one next to you who looks different than you or to fear someone because you have been told to with no proof.
What is God’s commandments? Let’s see we covered the first one. Let’s expand the second one.
Exodus 20, I am going to write them simply. Please read God’s word for yourself. Do not rely on someone else to teach you what you can learn through prayer and time with God.
1- Have no other gods before Me.
What comes first in you life? Does work, play, etc…How often do you check in with God in prayer and question what you hear or see by comparing it to God’s Holy Perfect Word?
2- Don’t make any graven images for yourself or anything in the likeness of anything. Don’t bow down to them.
Now we can think well we don’t do that right? Let’s see. Do you put work before God? Do you put a person first? Do you include Him in how to be a good steward of your finances? When you feel prompted to speak to that person different from you or not so different from you do you ignore it? Maybe afraid of what they may think. How often do you include Him in your every day conversations?
3- You shall not take the name of the Lord God in vain.
Do you watch movies with foul language? What kind of shows do you watch in your home? Do you invite violence into your home by what comes through that great box we all have? What about bigotry, making fun of others, hate, are our girls learning it is important to be pretty over smart? But we say it is only a movie right? It’s not real life right?
Matthew 6:22-24 The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness. When we see something the eye takes it in and the mind processes it. This leaves a memory or an imprint on our brains / minds. We get out what we put in.
4- Remember the Sabbath and keep it Holy.
God gave us this guide book so we could live good, righteous, honest, loving lives. God gave us a day of rest. Six days you shall labor and on the seventh you shall do no labor because God hallowed it and He rested on that day. Rest with Him.
5- Honor your father and your mother that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
Our parents take care of us if we are gifted to have great parents. None are perfect. They look after our needs and a lot of our wants. We should also look to their needs and though we don’t always agree, we should respect them, and love them. Sometimes we aren’t given this wonderful gift but we pray for them.
6- You shall not murder
Let’s expand, Jesus said murder began in the heart: Matthew 5:22-23 But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgement, and whoever says to his brother Raka! shall be in danger of the counsel. But whoever says you fool! shall be in danger of hell fire. Therefore if you bring your gift to the alter, and there remember that your brother has something against you leave your gift before the alter, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother and then come and offer your gift.
Matthew 6:12 And forgive us our debts / sins, as we forgive our debtors / those who hurt us. WOW not how God forgives us but how we forgive others. How long has it been since you read it? God takes loving our neighbors seriously. We should too.
7- You shall not commit adultery.
Jesus said even if you lust for that person you have already committed adultery in your heart. We take this as in marriage. God also sees it as in our marriage to Him. Thou shalt have no other gods before Me. Love the Lord your God!
8- You shall not steal.
Obvious right? Have you ever called into work sick when you weren’t? Did you receive too much change and not return it? Did you take something from someone in your own home that you didn’t think to ask before you took it. We have all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory.
9- You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
Wow who is our neighbor? God says we are all neighbors no matter the color, race, religion, or if we know them personally. Remember the Samaritan? The Jews considered them dogs. How many times have we shared photos, or posts, or quotes that we have no idea if it is true? How many times do we repeat what someone else says without realizing it may not be the whole truth? We have all sinned and fallen short. If we can’t say something nice maybe we should say nothing. Speak truth.
10- You shall not covet anything your neighbor has.
How many times are we bombarded with ads? How many times do you see something and think I want that? Then do you slow down and ask God, would that be good for me? Is there something Lord You want me to do with the finances You have given me the gift of earning? God provides our every need. God wants us to have an abundant life not an indebted life. Things come and things go, keep it simple and ask God.
Lord, I thank You for Your perfect Word. It is a lamp and a light for our lives. Lord God Father, thank You that You sent us Your Son Jesus Christ to save us. Lord we agree we have all sinned and fallen short of Your glory. We are thankful that Jesus asked You for the Helper Your Holy Spirit, that we are not left in this world of sin alone. Apart from You we are nothing. Father we ask in Your Son Jesus precious name to forgive us and help us to think before we act and to bring Your word to our minds that we may remember the way and the truth to Life. amen
