“And God spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” Exodus 20:1-3 KJV
I understand idols.
“Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:” Exodus 20:4 KJV
I understand they can be anything that we place higher or above our relationship with God; children, spouse; career; sports; hobbies, etc.
“Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;”
Exodus 20:5 KJV
I have seen evidence of this curse not only in my life but in those we minister to! I understand the severity of breaking His Commandments. Humbling ourselves in repentance we worship Him for His mercy and His grace.
“And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.” Exodus 20:6 KJV
Knowing this does not give us license to take lightly His Commandments.
“Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.” Exodus 20:7 KJV
God is serious and we should be too!
“Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.” Exodus 20:12 KJV
The Commandment “with a promise!”
We should repent for not keeping His law, and we address this violation often!
“Thou shalt not kill.
Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Thou shalt not steal.
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.” Exodus 20:13-17 KJV
We all know the importance of these for a healthy society and live with the consequences when they are ignored; which seems to be happening minute by minute as we see the breakdown of our society. The further we have drifted from following God’s Commandments, the more our country has decayed.
The Commandment I am most convicted of today though is:
“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.” Exodus 20:8 KJV
I have so not done this!
Now I’m not going to debate the “when” but the “how” is where My heart was pierced!
“Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.” Exodus 20:9-11 KJV
Oh - how I have missed it and I am not alone. I’m talking about resting!
Now I understand that Jesus is our Sabbath rest! Walking with Him daily we are to regard everyday as Holy and rest in Him daily!
However, I know few if any who take literally the importance of actual rest on our 7th day. There seems always to be an excuse to work. But in reading, this morning, God impressed upon me how He set this time aside for us - for our own good! He knows how we are!
We are driven to “do!”
The medical community even encourages us to get 8 hours sleep every night and we know how important it is, but we don’t even do that. Rest is something that we think we can do without. We burn the candle at both ends. We work till we drop! A friend called me on it last night reminding me “I’m no longer a spring chicken!”
Getting back to The Sabbath; God did not suggest we keep it (set it aside) He commanded it! “wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.”
“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.”
Do we even know what “holy” is???
Father, I come to You this morning with a heavy heart - forgive me for not keeping Your Commandments! I repent, Father for being too busy to set aside one whole day just to rest/commune with You. I understand the value You have placed on a day of rest and I ask that You would teach me about holiness! Give me wisdom LORD and may my efforts be pleasing in Your sight! Make me to know Your ways! I thank You that I can rest in You! I choose, from this day on, to walk in your statutes and I thank You for Your mercy and Your grace!
Even so - MARANATHA!
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