What is the Rule/Law?

Exodus 20: 1-17 - Go ahead and read it. I'll wait.

In my house growing up we had rules/laws. Rules, that if you broke them, got your fanny spanked. Actually, it was called a whooping, which is a step up from a spanking. Rule: you eat what you put on your plate. If you weren’t going to eat it, don’t put it on your plate. Rule: if daddy was on the phone you better be dead silent and mostly invisible. Rule: if you ran through the house hollering then you got to sit on the couch and quietly listen to the 6:00 news. Rule: if you drove it last it better have fuel for the next driver. I kept this rule in my house. Rule: if we had company, you sat quietly with your mouth closed unless spoken to. Now these may sound a little extreme but yet they worked for us. But the best rule was, if you’re not sick, you better be at church. Now, let me just say, my daddy didn’t go to church except for funerals and weddings and maybe an Easter or two. But, we had to go. Mama said so!

Now all of our family rules/laws were totally backed up by “The Law-man”, also known as, Daddy. And, the worst line you ever heard as a child was, “just wait till your daddy gets home!” Now my mama and daddy had laws/rules for the family that were basically the Ten Commandments with some common sense and etiquette thrown in. What’s really amazing is that if everyone of us made those Ten Commandments the basis of what we think, say, and do, the whole world would be a much better place.

Our country was built on the rules and laws set forth in the Ten Commandments. Then more rules were added for our safety and well-being: rules for driving, rules for public education (don’t even get me started on this one), even rules about where you can and cannot go. But, the original set of rules that God gave to Moses on the stone tablets still ring true as the foundation for all other laws. Exodus 20:1-17 presents all of the commandments that God told Moses and inscribed on the stone tablets. As you read these Ten Commandments, you can see how we, as a nation, have fallen so far from Godly intent.

Exodus 20: And God spoke all these words: 2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 3 “You shall have no other gods before[a] me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments. 7 “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name. 8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.12 “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you. 13 “You shall not murder. 14 “You shall not commit adultery. 15 “You shall not steal. 16 “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. 17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

We have put other gods before us. We hear the Lord’s name in vain in our TV shows, our music and daily conversations. We don’t keep the sabbath Holy. We go shopping, fishing, play golf, and work. The family unit is no longer revered. We don’t honor our fathers and mothers. We murder children before they are even born and kill each other in revenge, a mad rage, or just simply to kill. Adultery is now as common as a cold. Stealing is no big deal. Insurance will cover it. And, of course we have to keep up with the Jones’ and we can’t let Little Johnny and Susie live without the next fancy, smancy thing that rolls down the pike. We have forgotten the rules/laws of moral living, the rules/laws of God and his church, and we have forgotten to put others before ourselves.

If you are not in a Bible believing and teaching church, find one. If you are in a church where God is worshipped and his laws are taught, then get on your knees and thank Him. If you’re not in a church at all then it’s time to find one. I’m so thankful to be a part of a church that has God at the very core of it’s foundation and the worshipers are part of my family, the family of God.