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What are the Big 10 Commandments? continued...
The very word "commandment" has a negative connotation to us; when independent-minded humans like you and me think of rules and regulations....we tend to think of burdens. People think that by their very nature God's laws are restrictive limits to our freedom. Ron Mehl writes (The Tender Commandments), "When many of us hear, 'THE TEN COMMANDMENTS' we hear the clank of chains and the rattle of padlocks. We hear God saying, 'You mess with Me, you step out of bounds, and I'll fry you like a bug landing on a transformer.'" And this view...this opinion...of the ten commandments plays right into Satan's master plan-the one he's had from the beginning. You see Satan has always wanted mankind to believe that God is a prude...that He is THE cosmic killjoy....a harsh old grandfather with a long, gray beard and bushy eyebrows....Who doesn't want anyone to have any fun....EVER!
Mehl points out that Satan first employed this strategy in the Garden of Eden when he spoke to Eve and said in essence, "Has God REALLY forbidden you this lovely fruit? Oh my. What a pity. What a shame. You realize of course, Eve, that He knows if you ever tasted from this tree, you'd be like a god. Nothing could hold you back. God wants to keep you from the truly best part of life! Eve, true freedom means freedom FROM confining restrictions such as these." Well was Satan right? Are these 17 verses from Exodus 20 harsh and negative...narrow and legalistic...cold and confining? No! ----- In fact they are just the opposite....God's laws bring freedom...not confinement. They are not cold and harsh...to the contrary, they are warm and loving. God gave us commands like "Flee sexual immorality," and "Husbands love your wives," and "You shall not commit adultery," because He wanted to protect us. He didn't throw His precepts into the Bible just because He liked the way they sounded; He didn't concoct those rules to throw His weight around; No...He gave those commands because He loves us and He knows some things that we don't. He knows that sexual immorality is a path, not to pleasure and fulfillment but to emptiness and frustration.
Moses reminded the people of the true nature of God's law in Deuteronomy 10:13 when he told them that God gave His commandments, "for their own good." Bill Hybels writes (The God You Are Looking For...): "The Lord tells us specifically that His commands are never burdensome. By this, He doesn't necessarily mean they're easy to keep. Rather, He's telling us that they're never foolish. They are never unnecessary or purely arbitrary. He doesn't force us to observe meaningless formalities, nor does He impose rules that have no value. On the contrary, every guideline, every law, every imperative in the Bible was crafted in infinite wisdom. They were given not only to honor God, but to benefit us as well." In Jeremiah 29:11 God says to you and me, "I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
continued...
Mehl points out that Satan first employed this strategy in the Garden of Eden when he spoke to Eve and said in essence, "Has God REALLY forbidden you this lovely fruit? Oh my. What a pity. What a shame. You realize of course, Eve, that He knows if you ever tasted from this tree, you'd be like a god. Nothing could hold you back. God wants to keep you from the truly best part of life! Eve, true freedom means freedom FROM confining restrictions such as these." Well was Satan right? Are these 17 verses from Exodus 20 harsh and negative...narrow and legalistic...cold and confining? No! ----- In fact they are just the opposite....God's laws bring freedom...not confinement. They are not cold and harsh...to the contrary, they are warm and loving. God gave us commands like "Flee sexual immorality," and "Husbands love your wives," and "You shall not commit adultery," because He wanted to protect us. He didn't throw His precepts into the Bible just because He liked the way they sounded; He didn't concoct those rules to throw His weight around; No...He gave those commands because He loves us and He knows some things that we don't. He knows that sexual immorality is a path, not to pleasure and fulfillment but to emptiness and frustration.
Moses reminded the people of the true nature of God's law in Deuteronomy 10:13 when he told them that God gave His commandments, "for their own good." Bill Hybels writes (The God You Are Looking For...): "The Lord tells us specifically that His commands are never burdensome. By this, He doesn't necessarily mean they're easy to keep. Rather, He's telling us that they're never foolish. They are never unnecessary or purely arbitrary. He doesn't force us to observe meaningless formalities, nor does He impose rules that have no value. On the contrary, every guideline, every law, every imperative in the Bible was crafted in infinite wisdom. They were given not only to honor God, but to benefit us as well." In Jeremiah 29:11 God says to you and me, "I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
continued...
