ESOCS Devotional 30 June 2022
TEXT: EXODUS 20: 1 – 17
MEMORY VERSE: “And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.” Exodus 20:6 KJV
0 And the apostles, when they had returned, told Him all that they had done. Then He took them and went aside privately into a deserted place belonging to the city called Bethsaida. 11 But when the multitudes knew it, they followed Him; and He received them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who had need of healing. 12 When the day began to wear away, the twelve came and said to Him, “Send the multitude away, that they may go into the surrounding towns and country, and lodge and get provisions; for we are in a deserted lace ”
As children, many of us learned the commandments as basic morality lessons, a list of dos and don’ts. Maybe we haven’t given much thought to them since childhood. When we look at the commandments through adult eyes, we discover that they are much broader than a restrictive morality list for children. By taking a more expansive view of the commandments, we can find ways to apply the Ten Commandments to our daily life and living in a way that will help us feel a closer connection to God, and be more aware of how we can make a difference in the world.
Jesus said the greatest commandment is to love God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind. This is a summary of the first four commandments. He summarized the second tablet of the commandments when he said, “love your neighbor as yourself.” So, commandments six through ten have to do with how we treat other people. The context of these commandments is the whole Exodus story. God rescued the Hebrew people from slavery so they could be an example of right living. Yahweh would have none of this business of the Hebrews treating each other in the ways the Egyptian taskmasters treated them. God’s agenda is for the liberation of people; not their subjugation to tyrants. The Ten Commandments, therefore, establish essential rules to keep people from becoming mini-Pharaohs or tyrants and brutes.
Commandments referred to by Jesus were all about love and faith. And “walking in the same manner” was about walking in love. God is love. So, the commandments, as laid out very plainly in I John 2:23 are to believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and to love one another. What God cares about is our faith; and when His Spirit lives in us, then love for one another exudes from us. Love of God is the underlying reason we are to keep the 10 Commandments (John 14:15).
Some of the benefits we enjoy when we keep His commandments are: we receive of Him whatsoever we ask (1 John 2:22), the love of God is perfected in us (1 John 2:5), and we enjoy God’s mercy (Exodus 20: 6).
The commandments aren’t there to make you feel guilty. They are there for you to find the fullness of a meaningful life that loves God and your neighbor. Try looking at the commandments through adult eyes but not as a list of restrictions. Try to think about them in terms of how you can be more intentional in your love for God and your neighbor.
- Learn to walk after His commandments and you will overcome the world.
- Father, help me to obey your word always in my life.
Read Other ESOCS Devotional here
FURTHER READING: 2 Kings 20:1–20; John 10:31–42; Revelation 22:14-21
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ESOCS Devotional 30 June 2022
