The Commandments

September 23

I am the Lord thy God, who has brought thee out of the land of Egypt (Mizrahim), out of the house of bondage.

Thou shalt not have strange gods before Me.

Thou shalt not make for thyself any graven image (carved idol) or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; thou shalt not bow down to them or serve them; for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, punishing the iniquities of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those that hate Me; but showing mercy to thousands of generations of those that love Me, and keep My commandments.

Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that takes His name in vain.

Remember to keep holy the sabbath day; six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is a sabbath, that is, the rest of the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not do any work therein, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy ox, nor thy ass, nor any of thy beasts, nor the stranger that is within thy gates; that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest, even as thyself. Remember that thou also didst serve in Egypt, and the Lord thy God brought thee out from thence with a strong hand, and a stretched out arm. Therefore hath he commanded thee that thou should observe the sabbath day.

Honour thy father and mother that thy days be long in the land which the Lord gives thee.

Thou shalt not kill.

Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Thou shalt not steal.

Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife.

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's (goods), his house or fields, nor his male or female slaves, nor his ox or ass, or anything that belongs to him.

Deuteronomy 5:6-21

If you were asked, “Which commandment is most flagrantly disregarded on a regular basis,” how would you answer?

Most of us would never ponder the possibility of stealing or of committing murder. But certainly there are many on the Lord’s list of ‘thou shalt nots’ that are under constant fire by those who are in the army of opposition to all that He stands for.

We certainly covet our neighbors’ goods. We live in a society that competes with itself continually for such things as rank and power and possession and recognition. When our neighbor attains a new rung on the ladder of success, we are driven to do him one better. When our neighbor buys a new car, it isn’t long until a shiny new vehicle graces our driveway. We want to be seen as achievers, not as also-rans.

We don’t always honor our parents as we should. In fact, as they become older and more burdensome, we are disinclined to ‘be there’ for them. We pack them off to a nursing home to salve our conscience regarding them, but we don’t want to be fully responsible for them.

Lying? A little untruth now and then may trill off our tongue, but we mean no malice by it. We’re just trying to get ahead by whatever means are necessary. If we have to enhance our standing by a bit of duplicity, it really doesn’t hurt anyone and it’s too tiny a matter for God to take notice.

Remembering the Sabbath Day on the golf course isn’t a problem. The fresh air, the sunshine, the relaxation attained help to lay aside the burdens of the work-a-day week and reorient our focus on the glory of the God who gave us all things to enjoy.

And, no, we don’t mean it when we allow the “name that is above all names,” Philippians 9:2 to cross our lips in an irreverent manner. No, we’re merely succumbing to the unfortunate influence of the society around us that treats the name of Jesus with total irreverence.

Do we engrave images that we worship? Do we have other ‘gods’ before Him? Perhaps our television sets are not graven images, but we do spend a lot of our time before them, basking in the entertainment (sometimes unwholesome) that they supply to us. We may not have the time for church, but there’s always time for a good move or sit-com or football game on TV.

So, who do we worship? It seems the only viable answer to that question is that we worship our self. We do and say whatever we prefer at any given moment in time. We hope we’re acceptable before God—if He exists—but we’re not concerned enough to read and study His word or to seek out people of faith with whom to associate.

Woe to us, for we do as we please to please ourselves, and our number one commandment is, “Take good care of Number One.”

Lord, forgive us! Lord, forgive me! Help me to lay my life at Your feet, to worship only You, and to surrender the entirety of my being to Your holy commandments that are yea and amen forever.