Monday, March 2, 2015

Exodus 20:1-11
Then God spoke all these words: 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. You shall not make for
yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth
beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship
them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to
the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the
thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments. You shall not make
wrongful use of the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not acquit anyone who
misuses his name. Remember the Sabbath day, and 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; you shall not do any
work-you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien
resident in your towns. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in
them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and consecrated it.
Honoring God!
I remember growing up in that little Christian Church out in the middle of a rural county studying Exodus in
Sunday School. What I remember most was how those Israelites were so ungrateful! After all God had seen them
through so much and yet they still were ungrateful and even appeared angry at Moses and at God most of the time.
Since then I have grown up and lived life a bit. Now I understand that discontentment is part of the human
condition. Sometimes that human condition causes people to say and do things that are not always in their best
interest.
In this part of the ten commandments God gives the people rules on how they should order their lives and this
section specifically how people are to relate to God. As people we generally don't like someone else telling us what
to do and we especially don't like being told what we can't do. Most of the time we go along with the rules in order
to have a society that is ordered and hopefully civilized.
No other Gods! This was the command to the newly freed Israelites who had just left Egypt where Pharaoh was
considered a god. We don't revere "other gods" in our society but we often put things ahead of our relationship to
God, these can become gods in our lives if they take priority over God.
Don't use God's name in vain. We often think of this when we are upset and
something involving God's name comes flowing out of our mouth. I'm sure it is a
lot more involved than that but it serves as a good reminder to honor God.
Richard picked up the phrase "Oh, my god!" from hearing me and other people
say it. Now, I don't really think that is the worse thing we can say but it is not a
great one either. A rule of thumb has become, if it doesn't sound good from a
preschooler then we probably should reconsider how and what we say.
Keep the Sabbath! If there was ever a place of disagreement this means would
probably be one of the biggest in our society today. I believe that life is a rhythm
and in life we function best when we are able to balance work and rest. If we work everyday all day and never take
a break we will soon burn out and not be productive at all. Keeping the Sabbath is about rest but also about
honoring God.
We can't expect our faith to be an anchor when we are going through rough times unless we invested time in
building that faith. We build a strong relationship with God in the same manner as other relationships. When you
met your spouse or partner you spent time together and you talked; that is how you get to know him or her.
Spending time with God and time in prayer is how you learn more about God and deepen your faith.
When Jesus was asked "what is the greatest commandment?" Jesus responded "Love the Lord your God with all
your heart, soul & mind." Jesus went on to say "The second is like it. Love your neighbor as yourself."
Pastor Rick Modglin-Green