Reading through the "bible in a year" program I've reached a monumental
period in the history of man in which God gave the basic rules for us to
follow according to his desire. So many people these days view these rules
as either

1. Being a part of literature history and sort of a monument in which to
look upon to remind us of a period of man in his history...

2. A set of rules which no one can live up to in these crazy times of life
and thus discarded and in which people feel "hey, I'm doing the best I can
in life and after all I haven't killed anyone so I'm doing OK I'd say"...

3. Or they take Jesus' statement that the two commandments he gave in the
New Testament are to override or over rule the top ten of the Father, and
so they just discard even being reminded of them in today's lifestyle.

While it is true Jesus stated that we ought to love God with all our
heart, soul and mind, and that we ought  love others as we love ourselves
and we will meet God's ten commandments, it was meant that to follow
Jesus' two commandments, that they would be held in such a way in our
hearts that they would envelope the ten not replace them. If we love
others as we love ourselves, we'll not steal from them, covet their goods,
or kill them. If we love God with all our heart, soul and mind, we'll not
have other God's before him, hold graven images in his stead, or take his
name in vain. Below is the original text which  contain the ten
commandments and which we find the outlined one liners for memory sake.
Below that a few thoughts.

1. I am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of
the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me.

2. You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in
heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You
shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a
jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on
the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing
loving kindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My
commandments.

3. You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD
will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.

4. Observe the Sabbath day to keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded
you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is
a Sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or
your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant or
your ox or your donkey or any of your cattle or your sojourner who stays
with you, so that your male servant and your female servant may rest as
well as you.  You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of
Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and
by an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God commanded you to
observe the Sabbath day.

5. Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded
you, that your days may be prolonged and that it may go well with you on
the land which the LORD your God gives you.

6. You shall not murder.

7. You shall not commit adultery.

8. You shall not steal.

9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

10. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, and you shall not desire
your neighbor's house, his field or his male servant or his female
servant, his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

So many times we look upon this listing of rules for us to follow with
man's law as our measuring stick to see how we match up to it. We become
so engrained in the culture and way of the times that we can tend to grow
farther and farther from the truth in which these  rules were originally
set forth. Myself included. You can read through this list in a matter of
seconds, make a quick assessment of how we stack up to them, and then move
on to our day, almost as if we never read them at all. How often have we
heard people say "Well I've not killed anyone", or "I've never stole a
thing in my life"., or "I have never committed adultery, I've been
faithful to my spouse  always". What is wrong with such an assessment?
Well? Did not Jesus say "If you even look upon a woman and lust after her,
you have already created adultery in your heart", or if you speak to a
brother with hatred in your heart, you have already created murder in your
heart towards him. Or how about the fact that if we violate even one of
the commandments, we've violated the entire law. Kind of changes our
perspective on our assessment looking at it from God's perspective and not
our measly shallow task orientated measuring stick of how we stack up in
our own minds. And it is not our own minds in which we will be judged but
that of God's and so how much more might we be wise to conduct ourselves
accordingly. Not doing so only fools ourselves and not God. Perhaps you
are thinking "But, Jesus came and it tells us in the Bible that we are no
longer subject to the law and that we are freed from the law, so I don't
buy it, I agree we ought not kill anyone but the ten commandments? Come on
that was for those people before Christ came along". Well? the Bible never
said we could disregard the law at all. In fact Jesus said he came to
fulfill it and until the coming of the Son of God in the last day, it will
remain. But I do believe what was meant was this. We have a rule in man's
law as well to not kill, or you then will suffer punishment. Am I subject
to that law? Yes I am. If I kill someone, I better be prepared to suffer
the consequences. However, living as a Christian with God before me and
rule over my life, do I need be concerned about that law? No. If I am
upholding God's rules I will not be killing anyone and therefore have no
worry to suffer the consequences of breaking that law. The same is for
God's law. We are freed from the law both through our changed hearts and
the freeing sacrifice of Christ.

So you might say "Yes but we are told we  are not perfect and that we have
failed right out of the gate... why even try, I'll just do my best as I
feel". Well after, "I", eat, "I", will eventually get hungry, "I", know
this when, "I", sit down to, "my",  meal, so why do, "I", even open,
"my",  mouth? When, "I", lay down to sleep at night, "I", know, "I'll", be
tired again tomorrow, so why should, "I", sleep? "I", know that no matter
how hard, "I",  try, "I", can't live up to all the rules. Did you notice a
subtle hint in that series of questions? Did you notice the "I's " and
"my's"? Does that sound like an attitude we might have when looking at the
ten commandments? "I", shall not, "I", shall not, "I", shall not. I, I, I,
I, and more I's. Now look at the ten commandments again. Do you see any
reference to "I", do you see any self-motivated reason in any of the
commandments?

You shall not have any other gods before me. For God's purpose not ours.

You shall not have any idols instead of me. for God's purpose not ours.

You shall not take God's name in vain. For God's purpose not ours.

You shall remember the Sabbath day. For rest yes, but for purposes of
remembering God's power, creation, gift of life and to focus on him. Also
notice the stressed focus on rest for others and not oneself.

You shall honor mom and dad. For mom and dad's sake, not ours.

You shall not murder. For other's sake not ours.

You shall not commit adultery. For other's sake not ours.

You shall not steal. For other's sake not ours.

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. For other's sake
not ours.

You shall not covet your neighbor's wife or his stuff.  For other's sake
not ours.

It is clear that Jesus' two commandments dealing with god and the love of
others shows up in the ten commandments.

So what if we took each one of these items and pondered upon them a bit.
How do we stack up to them in our life today from the basis in which they
were intended thousands of years ago? Take the first  commandment for
example.

1. I am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of
the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me.

I remember reading and memorizing this commandment as... "Thou shalt have
no other God's before me". Plain and simple that was the one liner
commandment. Take a look at what we miss by not reading the other text. We
were not their personally that we  were freed from slavery in Egypt. Our
long history of freedom doesn't even allow us to  truly comprehend the
awesome release it must have been for those folks, yet we ought not
disregard where we indeed might  be today if God hadn't freed us, not only
from a possible generation history of slavery, but also freedom from our
own bondage in this life. Of drugs, immoral lifestyles, or whatever we
were in bondage to. The gist of this commandment however is to not have
any other god before God in our eyes, and more importantly, our hearts.
Looking at the text the first thing that came to mind was to not have
freedom be our God. But God gave us freedom you might ask, how can
freedom, a gift of god be a threat to God's position in our life. God did
give us freedom from many things but freedom from himself is not one. We
are free, especially in this country, "the land of opportunity", to
endeavor into business whatever we desire. What if jobs, career, power,
prestige, money, position, pride, or status became so much more a God that
we spend 80% of our time working on that and 15% of our time with other
life tasks and only 5% studying God's word or praying or otherwise holding
God higher than the rest of our life. What if we spend our day so focused
on family, family activities or serving our family that we lose God in the
process? But isn't that a commandment as well, to love and serve our
husband and wife and to raise our family? We can't just forget them? No we
can't, but in our heart of hearts we know when we discipline our children
if it is out of a self-induced angered heart or if we are upholding God's
statutes, we know if we do something for a family member whether it is to
love and honor them, or to butter them up because we would like something
from them, or about to tell them some bad news.  Do we hold a job or enter
in business to toil for our food as we are told we will have need, or are
we escaping God's status over our lives in the name of his command to
"toil" so we can bathe our efforts and time in an area which gains us what
we want? I believe this is why we are told to "do as unto God' in all
things in life. To keep god in front. We can have careers, position and
various material things, as long as they don't have us, and that they are
used for god and not our selfish purposes. I play guitar, could I indeed
make the guitar a God before me? Sure I could. I could say "God gave me
this talent, and I'm going to study it and make myself a name in the
Christian music field for God, by God". And yet have the wrong motive or
heart. Is it to further god's impact on people's lives or to gain a name,
money and respect among my peers that would be my motivation? I know, and
god knows, and that is all that is necessary for me to line up with
commandment number one.  I studied healing at one point and so engrossed
myself into scripture regarding it, praying about it, talking to God about
it, that healing became my god and not God staying my God. I challenge
you, as I do myself, to look at your life and assess what is the priority
in your life? What occupies your mind? Earning money? Saving money? Trying
to gain more or not having enough? What takes up your time? What
activities are you engrossed in on a daily basis and do they have God as
the paver or are you out in front holding a shield of career, computers,
music, family, or whatever label is painted on the front of your shield in
life, while you've placed god behind you. The scripture reads "if God be
fore us, who can be against us", I'd surmise all can be allowed against us
if God is allowed to be behind us.

What is your God? Computers? Family? Money? a lack of or a storehouse of
it? Music? Career? Agenda to be a big fish in a small pond in your church?
your health? Your kids? Your grandkids? Your education? Your ministry? Yes
your ministry can be your God as well. your relationships with others?
Your wardrobe, car, house, property, gidgets gadgets widgets and wadgets?

Or are these things done, honestly, as unto God, for God's purpose, to do
his work.

A true test is to ask yourself this question...

"If God told me today to stop , could I?"

Not that he would tell us to starve or family, not provide for their needs
through "toiling", not that he'd say to never shop again, not that he'd
say to remain uneducated and  not think ahead in life. But that we find
ourselves in a position enjoying what he has blessed us with, and yet we
can and are willing to wisely stop if he so asked us to. A good test is to
in fact back off from it a while, sort of a fasting and focus on God and
his word. God gave us talents, giftings, and all the things we enjoy, and
we can have all the things, as long as they don't have us, and therefore
taking us away from God by holding them as a god higher than god.

Brad