April 29, 2024

Exodus 20:1-11 (HCSB)
The Ten Commandments
20 Then God spoke all these words: 2 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery. 3 Do not have other gods besides Me. 4 Do not make an idol for yourself, whether in the shape of anything in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the waters under the earth. 5 You must not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the fathers’ sin, to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing faithful love to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commands. 7 Do not misuse the name of the Lord your God, because the Lord will not leave anyone unpunished who misuses His name. 8 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy: 9 You are to labor six days and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. You must not do any work—you, your son or daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the foreigner who is within your gates. 11 For the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and everything in them in six days; then He rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and declared it holy.

Kim Stahlin
Many of us are very familiar with The Ten Commandments. We all go back to VBS or Sunday School as a child (if we were blessed enough to be raised in church or go with friends). Then there is always the image of Charlton Heston in the movie. As dramatic as the movie is, that has nothing on our God, for sure. But the key thing I want to focus on here is that in these first 4 commandments, they are focused on what God expects of us and our relationship with Him. He is telling us WHO He is and where He should be in our life. He comes first. He is more important than ANYTHING or ANYONE in our lives. There is NO OTHER god other than GOD.
Everything we have comes from Him. And Oh, how He loves us! There is a promise to lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations of those who love Him and obey His commands. WOW! But that love makes Him a jealous God. Jealous for our love, our time, our thoughts, our actions, our priorities. We should not put anyone or anything before our Father. We definitely should not worship or idolize anyone or anything other than our Heavenly Father. That includes our kids, grandbabies (ouch!), our shiny cars, houses, sports (even my Titans and beloved Eagles), jobs or even our church and/or religion. He gave us ALL of these things. They all belong to Him and we are called to be good stewards of these blessings. But how often do we put God’s blessings before the Father who gave them to us? How often do we disrespect God by using His name in vain? That’s not just cussing, but using God as an excuse to wrong others or glorify ourselves instead of Him. The 4th commandment is the hardest for me: Remember the Sabbath and keep it Holy. It is so hard for me to take on a FULL day and center it around my Father; Think of and talk with my Father; REST in my Father; prioritize Him ALL day-not just at church. I am a very busy person. I am seldom still or quiet-ask BJ or anyone who knows me. But God commands us to take one day to be still and quiet with Him. To be HOLY with Him. I find it hard to do that for 30 minutes a day-let alone a whole day. That is my biggest struggle. How about you?