This chapter contains the Ten Commandments, many of which we know from heart.
“You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” (v3-4,7-8)
The first four commandments can be summarized as this: “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” (Mk 12:30)
“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet…” (v12-17a)
The next six commandments can be summarized as this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Mk 12:31b)
Now we could write an entire book on the Ten Commandments, but I will focus on the three that I think are most difficult (for me at least) in this day and age.
First and Second: “You shall have no other gods before me.” and “You shall not make for yourself a carved image…” Our culture promotes idolatry at the highest level. It’s literally everywhere – books, magazines, social media, sports, television, etc. It’s impossible to avoid the constant bombardment of influence. There are countless examples of things that take the place of God in our lives, things on which we spend the majority of our resources (eg. time, energy, money). I won’t begin to list examples extensively, but one for me is video games – at one point in my life I spent dozens of hours each week (yes, each week) playing video games. I would spend hundreds of dollars on them and devote all of my free time and energy to them. It was a form of idol worship, and it was sin. Now, a few years later, I will still play a video game now and then (maybe two-three hours per week) but the underlying heart is completely different – I now have a heart that puts God first, and the video games are far down the priority list, only to be played once everything else is looked after. There are countless other things we could name that can take priority away from God in our lives if we allow them to. The things in and of themselves are not always bad (maybe we enjoy watching sports) but the priority they have in our hearts can become an idol if we’re not careful.
Third: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God.” This is a big one in our culture as well – we fill our lives with so many things we can’t help but be busy 18 hours per day, 7 days per week. The culture tells us we need to accomplish more and more or we’re somehow under-performing. God’s commandment of rest challenges that paradigm. Now, I won’t get into deep detail in the various forms of rest we can choose, it differs from person to person, but a loose definition I’d use is “anything that fills up our cup with the joy of the Spirit and focuses us on the presence of God”. Maybe one person will play music and another will go fishing with their kids – if the activities fulfill that definition, go for it. God’s command is that we do something that focuses us on Him, rather than focusing on productivity or achievement. I could write an entire sermon on “worship at work” and connecting with God during the course of a “work day”, but that’s outside of the context we’re focusing on right here. God wants some undivided attention from us, and He wants us to take a break for our own health and well-being – who are we to say we don’t need that time? He must command it for a reason (or more than one reason). If He merely suggested we take time off for Him, we’d likely never set that time aside, thus it became a “command”.
I realize I only briefly discussed how to show our love for God, and did not focus on loving our neighbor, but that’s okay for this reason – if we prioritize loving God in our lives and hearts, loving our neighbor will eventually become a natural outflow of loving God. He loves our neighbors so much (just as He loves us) that as we grow closer to God, our heart becomes more like His heart, and we will naturally begin to love our neighbors more.
My challenge to us is look at all of these commandments as healthy guidelines for living, not as rules or obligations. Most people accept that healthy eating and exercise are necessary for a healthy lifestyle – God’s guidelines are no different, He has our spiritual, emotional and physical well-being in mind. He does love us after all, so why wouldn’t He institute guidelines to help us prioritize our health?
Father God, we recognize Your absolute authority in our lives. We thank You for Your gracious and loving provision of these guidelines for healthy living. Long before the roles of psychiatrists and psychologists began, You had already given us the best counselling guidelines we could ask for. May we learn to implement these in our lives, so that we may live healthier and more joyful lives. More importantly, may that health and joy be an outflow of the relationships that we develop with You. After all, many of the things we seek are the Fruit of the Spirit, which You freely grow in us as we spend time with You – it’s a win-win. We love You Lord, and look forward to spending time in Your steadfast presence.
P.S. – In that prayer I am by no means suggesting that counselors (eg. psychiatrists and psychologists) are not necessary, I’m simply saying God figured us out first, because He created us. Counseling can be very good and even necessary at times, I would never denounce it.
~ Conqueror in Training