Exodus chapter 20.
Here we see God's first introduction to the Ten Commandments. I decided to focus on only two of the 10 that I struggle with. Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. Sunday morning, I’m up early. I usually end up working on some things in the morning that relate to work. Honor your father and mother. To honor someone is to put them above yourself. Can you imagine how differently we would treat our parents if we honor them above ourselves? We would no longer see anything as a chore or inconvenience but rather we would see it as a privilege. Visiting them would be seen as a privilege. I often let my “busy” schedule keep me from visiting my mother. I need to stop this and change my thought process in this area.
I could go on with the other Commandments that I struggle with, but at the cost of making me look really bad I'll just stick with the above two.
The Ten Commandments are given in this chapter. The first four focus on our relationship with God while the last six deal with our relationship with others. While these commandments are God’s standard for how we are to live, they also act as a mirror in showing each of us how we all fall short and need a Savior as we see in Romans 3.
I look at the 10 commandments and think, those sound reasonable enough, only 10…piece of cake. then the devil pops in and twists my thinking all up.
3 “You shall have no other gods before[a] me…. I sometimes put my little g’s (music, sports, etc) ahead of my big G
12 “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you. I went over ten years not speaking to my parents, now i’m facing the same challenge from my children.
14 “You shall not commit adultery….destroys families
Christian or not the ten commandments are a great guide for everyone to follow.
Just my thoughts on the 4th commandment: I too was raised to keep Sunday (not the Sabbath – Saturday) holy. We did very little on Sunday other than church and visiting family, etc. But I understand what Jesus meant when He said the Sabbath was made for man’s benefit and God’s glory – we do need to stop and physically rest the bodies that He gave us and also to remember and honor our Creator. The Pharisees turned it into a burden and made man a slave to the man-made, legalistic rules of the Sabbath. Some of their rules continue to influence us today. God meant the Sabbath to be a blessing not a burden.
While the New Testament clearly teaches that Christians are not required to keep the Sabbath, we do need to reserve time to worship and praise God. The 4th commandment is the only one not restated in the New Testament. In fact, Jesus says He is the Lord of the Sabbath. Paul says in Romans 14 that it’s a matter of God-given conscience (between you and God) whether we observe one day or another day. Many Christians observe some part of every single day. We are not to judge others on their decisions about issues of conscience but we need to make sure our own decisions please the Lord. The point is not to let legalism get in the way of our freedom in Christ. Legalism doesn’t and can’t save us from sin.
I think you (PB) honor the Lord on Sunday no matter what you do. You probably need to focus on the rest part! God bless!! (Some references on the Sabbath in the NT: Matt 12:1-13; Mark 2: 27; Col 2:16, 17; Acts 20:7; Gal 4:10, 11)
Haha, Jeanine! There may be some truth in that “Rest” part! Thank you!
I love all the insight! I always struggle with going places like restaurants and grocery stores on Sunday. I feel like I shouldn’t support business that don’t recognize Sunday as the sabbath.
I will challenge myself to stay off social media as part of keeping my sabbath day holy!