Daily Digest #219

You shall have no other gods before Me. —Exodus 20:3

Exodus 20:1-17 states the 10 commandments. I can picture the scene in Moses' movie when the laws were engraved one by one on the stone tablet, with God's voice bold and mighty in the background. To me, it seemed like a horrible warning, like "if you don't follow them, you'll be punished and sent to the depths of hell!!!". Most of us do not want to be pushed around, or pressured into something against our will. Some believe that the essence of these laws are marred because people preach them yet do otherwise. And some think these commandments are just impossible to do.

I believe Jesus knew and understood all these things, and He knew His Heavenly Father sent Him to fulfill these commandments, in flesh. He reached out to the poor, the weak, those who were excluded from the belief. And he simplified these 10 laws into 2 marvelously stated commandments: 37Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." (Matthew 22:37-40)

Although they sound much simpler than before, they are intended for the same purpose. For me, they do not serve as bases for punishment, but guidelines on how to live fully and serve the Lord wholeheartedly. And it takes courage and commitment to actually follow them. We may think that these are bound to be followed only by saints, but may we all remember this -- every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future.

For this, let us pray. May we grow a heart of love and obedience. We humbly ask for the Holy Spirit to come and guide us every day. We ask for strength and courage to walk by faith, and lead others to God by the way we live. Pray always.