Ten Commandments

Whenever I read Exodus 20, the "You shall not" in the Ten Commandments are always sound so serious and stern to me. Because of the “You shall” and “You shall not”, I tend to imagine God as a stern and serious old man with white hairs when He gave Moses and the Israelites the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai. So in my creative imagination, God in Exodus 20 become one that “You step my toe, I punch your nose”.

I believe I’m not the only one that has this feeling towards the Ten Commandments. Perhaps God was amused by my creative imagination and so recently, I met someone who shared with me a very interesting perspective of Ten Commandments: the Ten Commandments are Ten Promises!

We all know deep in our hearts that we are not able to keep the Ten Commandments. In our lifetime, there will be times that we would fail to uphold the commandments set by the Almighty God for all men sinned. However, what we cannot achieve in our strength is what we can do when we are complete in Christ. Consider this – on the day when we are called back to our heavenly home, the Ten Commandants become:

We will not have other gods – one and only God;
We will not make for ourselves idol – our eyes are always on Him;
We will not misuse the name of the LORD – we bow at His holy name;
We will keep Sabbath day - every day is holy day;
We will definitely honor our Father and one another – worshipping Him forever;
We will not murder – there is no hatred, only LOVE;
We will not commit adultery – we are His holy one;
We will not steal – why steal when we have everything?;
We will not give false testimony – only light, no darkness;
We will not covet our neighbor's house – LOVE, LOVE, LOVE.

So, isn’t the Ten Commandants = Ten Promises from God? Amen, Hallelujah!

Oh, by the way, God is not a stern and serious old man with white hairs (told you that's my imagination). God is a lovely, beautiful and gracious God. He is always ready to bless, teach and forgive us. At the same time, He is the King of kings, Lord of lords (the all-powerful one). See the difference between my imagination and truth? So next time, don't overly-endorse your imagination! God bless you! #min#