Click this link to hear an audio version of the below text narrated by SOTH member Jerry Rhinehart:
Exodus 20:1-7 (NIV)
And God spoke all these words: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before me. “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. 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, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments. “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
We talk a lot about the “law”, but what are we really referring too? Some of us get a picture of Charlton Hesston with a wild beard. (Google Heston 10 Commandments) Some of us flashback to studying for our driver’s test. When Paul talks about the law, he is referring to the first 10 laws given to the people of Israel by God and all those derived from the first 10 which helped the people of Israel live as a community under God. Today, we reflect on the first three. These laws focus on God. As you read them, consider all those times when you may have put something before God; when you may have made an idol of something or taken God’s name in vain. If the law is intended to point out our need for God, do you need God today? Thank God for his amazing grace and take a moment to put God first; praise God for all he has done in your life this day.