Lent 17 - Living a Ten Commandment Life

-

Exodus 20:1-17

Matthew 22:34-40

When confronted by the religious leaders and asked what is the greatest commandment in the Law, Jesus responded by saying: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbour as yourself. All the Law and the prophets hang on these two commandments."

I think that this is the difference between obeying the ten commandments as a list of strict rules and living a ten commandment life.

When we make it a priority to glorify God in everything that we do, we will naturally adhere to the ten commandments without even thinking about it. When faced with a choice to steal or not, which option would glorify God?

The same can be said for when we focus on loving our neighbour, we will naturally follow the 10 commandments as well. When faced with the option of murder, or committing adultery, what decision would we take if we are able to see Christ in the person we are planning to hurt?

Jesus understood that the point of the ten commandments was not to provide a list of strict rules to follow, they were given to God's people to bring life. And if our main priority is loving God and loving others, then living a good, holy life will follow naturally. 

Prayer: Lord Jesus, You perfectly modelled a life that was lived for the sole purpose of loving God and loving Your neighbour. Give us the strength and the patience to do the same today. Help us to naturally live a ten commandment life, glorifying God in all that we do and loving others in all the ways that we can. Amen

Image source: Orthodox Christian Network

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

Leap of Faith

-
Image
I recently did the Lake Eland Extreme Zip-line with some of my friends from Pietermaritzburg. The zip-line is 1 100 meters long and reaches max speeds of up to 160km's per hour. All that is keeping you from falling hundreds of meters to an inevitable death is 2 cables and a harness that my hysterical brain was telling me would not have been out of place as a car's seat-belt. We arrived early and waited for half an hour as we contemplated our life choices up to this point. Eventually we were all kitted up and ready to go. While I wouldn't say that I have Acrophobia - an extreme fear of heights - as I looked out over the gorge that we would be flying through, breaking the national speed-limit in the process, it is fair to say that my stomach started churning and my legs turned to jelly. It was at this point that I'm sure many of us were trying to think of any reasonable excuse that would get us out of this jump without seeming like a coward. One of the thin
Read more

The God of Running, Talents and Passions

-
Image
Over the past couple of months I have developed a passion for running.  I am not terribly good at it and I doubt I will take it very far, but something about training hard over the past couple of months has spiked an enthusiasm in me that I cannot really explain. It is during my time running on the road when I am able to clear my mind from stress and think about all the things God has been doing in my life. Image Source:  Lucas Favre Yesterday I completed my first full marathon.  It was one of the most difficult things I have ever done, but it felt good to complete something that I had worked so long and hard to accomplish. Some of you might be wondering why someone would run for hours, putting themselves through extreme pain just to receive a T-shirt and a medal. I don't blame you. I used to wonder the same. Not everyone is passionate about the same thing. Not everyone has the same talents or skills. But I believe that God blesses everyone with talents,
Read more

Harmony of Grace

-
Image
Image Source:  张 学欢 Why did I decide to start this blog? Why call it Harmony of Grace?  One definition for the word harmony is "living in peace and mutual understanding with others." I have always been fascinated with music and in my opinion, the musical definition of the word harmony has a more accurate depiction of the word's true meaning. In musical terms, a harmony is "a note or group of notes that compliment the notes in the melody (main tune of the song)." There are many different possible harmonies, but if played/sung correctly, they all compliment the melody and emphasize the beauty of the musical arrangement as a whole. When I had my first encounter with Jesus, the concept of harmony became much more real in my life. But how does harmony have anything to do with God's grace? I believe that God's grace can be seen in the world we live in, through various means, as a complimentary harmony to God's nature an
Read more