Love God.
He is the sovereign creator, worship no other
Do not worship your creation…….idols
Do not abuse his name…..Revere his holiness
Love everyone else
Don’t lie
Don’t steal
Don’t murder
Sex is for husbands and wives
Honor your parents
Don’t covet
Rest on Sunday
These commands are not negotiable. They were either spoken by Jesus or written by the hand of God. These commands are the foundation of Christianity. And yet, a surprising percentage of Christians cannot recite them.
I have heard them described as “narrow minded”…….outdated.
The sad reality is that it is a rare day when we don’t violate one or more of them. Often, this is because we don’t give them any thought. Often, this is because we just don’t like them. But, the main reason that we violate these cardinal commands of God is that we believe that we have a better idea…….a better plan on how we should run our life……..a better idea on how the world should run. Sadly, we often violate these commands…….because we don’t know them.
And so we go through our day.
We say things that are not true.
We kill each other……either directly…….or we send an army to do it.
We abort our children.
We ignore the poverty around us.
We redefine our sex……by fiat….either by our behavior or by surgery.
We vote for politicians who do these things…….and worse.
And just how is that working out for us?
The world and our society are failing. We talk about sustainability while we destroy our society and the ecosystem that we should be caring for.
By any rational measure, we are not managing the planet well.
Now, imagine a world where we all obeyed the bedrock commands of our sovereign creator. This is a purely hypothetical exercise. Because the other guy is not going to go along.
I have always told my sons. “When trying to solve a problem…….focus on the part of the problem that you can control”.
And you cannot control what the other guy does.
What to do?
Review the commands of God.
Memorize them.
Recite them…….every day…….every hour if you need to.
Weigh what you say, think, and do against them.
And wade into a world that ignores them.
You will make a tiny change……figuratively…….a drop in the ocean.
That drop is tiny…….but it is all that you can do. More importantly…….it is all that you will be held accountable for.
Now, back to the world that I asked you to imagine…….the world where these commands are followed……by everyone. Such a world exists. In fact, that world has been promised to you.
If you want it, start with the first command.
He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?
Micah 6:8, ESV