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Please listen to the devotional here: http://bit.ly/3kCjs4W
1 And God spoke all these words: 2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 3 “You shall have no other gods before me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments. 7 “You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name. 8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. 12 “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you. 13 “You shall not murder. 14 “You shall not commit adultery. 15 “You shall not steal. 16 “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. 17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” (Exodus 20:1-17 RSV)
A wonderful Wednesday to you awesome ConCafe Family! And may God bless you with opportunities to witness to the love Jesus has placed in you today and all days, is my prayer for you, dear Friend. I urge you to prayerfully consider the huge responsibility we have as followers of Christ to do what is best for our neighbors; and I am not making this political, I am making this practical. We should continue to wear our masks to prevent the spread of this deadly Corona virus that is robbing families of key family members. My cousin Xavier Jimenez was a husband, father, grandfather, brother, son, uncle, cousin; so many things to so many, and now he is being mourned. You might remember he lingered in an ICU for many, many days, having good and bad days; hopeful and no so hopeful, until he died. I think of the pastor from Skidmore, who on his first Sunday at that church accompanied his small congregation to Dairy Queen and there contracted the virus and died without having a second Sunday to share with his congregation. Two tragic stories of countless ones you could probably share, too! I praise God and thank Him for those who survived the virus, our own pastor, The Rev. Dr. Matt Pennington included, and we must continue to be vigiliant against spreading ther germ especially the elderlly and those with underlying health conditions. You are too valuable to lose! As are your grandparents, grandchildren, children, and so many loved ones. Please remember the family of Dr. Ross Compton of FUMC-San Marcos; a longtime faithful servant of the Lord who sang in the choir, accompanied a medical team we put together to Puebla, Mexico, where he served as our pharmacist; he was a longtime Scout leader, and a faculty member of Southwest Texas and Texas State's Chemistry Department for many years. HIs granddaughter, The Rev. Kelli Williamson, is a pastor of our conference. Please pray for their comfort during this difficult time of loss. I should mention that Ross died of several health issues including a battle with cancer. May God provide comfort to his family.
Speaking of restraints, here we have the foundational groundwork for most of the laws in effect throughout the entire world. It is known as the Mosaic Code and it predates Roman law and it is known for incorporating humanism and the democratic spirit in written form. I will add that it is divinely-given and divinely-inspired and the reference to humanism refers to asking humans to reach a deeper potential in caring one for the other. The first part of the law refers back to God and God's involvement in their history and calls for loyalty and trust to continue on the part of the people in Him as God. It is God saying, "Remember Who I am; What I can do; and what I expect from you." And as we study each of the commandments, may we see the potential for good in our actions and interactions with others.
The first commandment is a call to trust Him as God. No other gods can take His place. The underlying truth is that there are no other gods anyway, as God's story is shared throughout the pages of the Bible. "You should not have no other gods before me." The temptation was real, and more so as the people of God journeyed from Egypt to the promised land, and in all interactions with other nations in their history. Their history shows they were presented with false gods versus the overwheleming and undefeatable power ot the one true God.
The second commandment is to not make images and call them god. It's almost comical in the Old Testament where the story of told of the man who cuts down a tree, uses part of the lumber to make a fire to cook his lunch, and the other part to make a graven image to whom he gives thanks for the fire and lunch. The lesson is that the creature (you ane me) cannot and should not create things to worship as creator, for we truly know the one Creator, Who is God.
We should not misuse or take in vain, the name of the Lord; for His name is holy and should not be used in profane ways. The sacredness of the name should be limited to worship and praise, not in curses or making vows, i.e. "I swear to God!"
We should set aside a day in which we make it holy; the Israelites believed that six days were sufficient in which to work and do all the necessary things of life, but one should be set aside as a day of worship. For them it was the Sabbath (Sabado, literally "Saturday" in Spanish). We worship on Sunday because we are Resurrection people, whose Lord rose from the dead on Sunday. The day is to be free from work and the mundane things that can take us away from spending connecting time with God.
This last commandment closed off the direct divine aspects of the commandments, and now turns to the human side of what is expected of us. The first human-related commandment is "Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you." It is both interesting and logcail to start in the home. The ones who gave life to you deserve a special place in your life. And the respect should be our attitude of honor towards them. As a youth I struggled with honor meaning obey, for I found obedience to some things as impossible, and so I struggled with this commandment. Honor is above obedience, though it can and should be closely related; but the commandment is an elevated call to elevate our respect towards our fathers and mothers; and this is the only commandment with a promise.
LIfe is sacred, and the taking of life is not acceptable with God. The commandment says, "You shall not murder." It is a commandment to respect life. A lot of debate through the ages about what this commandment truly means and where it can and should be applied. A pure view has God being the only One who can make such decisions over life and death. A positive response among believers is to give life and build up others, rather than to kill and tear down. Jesus' take was to explain it as even anger being a way of murdering others.
"You should not commit adultery." A life lived in respect is a life seeking to keep the commandments. This commandment is directed to the sanctity of marriage and how imporant it is for God's commandments about marriage being holy, and to take the spouse of someone else is a violation of the commandment.
"You shall not steal." If ever you've had something taken from you, you know the validity of this commandment. Sadly, still other take what is not theirs. Respect what is not yours, and respect what belongs to others.
"You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor." Tell the truth. And more so if you're called to testify in court. Apparently, this was, and continues to be, a common thing. God calls us to rise about the harmful and hurtful.
"You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor." The intent to take or to possess what is not yours is just as bad as taking it. The desire becomes so strong that God sees it as a sin; control your desires and your thinking, and you will be halfway there to the desired place where God would have us all be.
We can see how key these ten commandments are to divine and human relations. It is not just about keeping the law, it is about keeping God and His love in our hearts, minds, and spirits so that we give no room to allow temptation to rule and ruin our lives. Seek a way to live a life above the way that has, sadly, become acceptable and run of the mill; our call is to rise above and be an example to others.
These commandments never will go out ot date or style; they are God's law and by grace we can live lives that give witness to God's grace and peace as God has offered these to us first. Let us be living sermons of what God has, is, and will do, for all who seek Him!
PRAYER: Loving Father, speak to our situations in ways that we not only understand, but obey and follow. Urge us to live lives that bless You and Yours; in Christ Jesus we pray, amen!
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Seek to be the best you can at doing your best!
Receive my blessing of peace and love,
Pastor Eradio Valverde
