Verse of the Day 4/13

Through the Bible - 1 Samuel 13-14, Luke 14:25 - 15:10

 

Good morning,

If you were to ask the members of your small group, Bible study, or even people on the street to name the 10 Commandments you'd probably get most of them.  We asked the 7th grade junior high boys the question in crossings the other night.  The terminology may not have been as it is written, but they had a pretty good grasp of what is required, such as one response of "you shouldn't cuss".

The group didn't name the first one, which is often overlooked, or at least comes towards the end as all of the "easy" ones are checked off.

For today's verse we'll go to Exodus 20 where we find the 10 Commandments.

Ex 20:2 "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

3 "You shall have no other gods before Me.    NKJV
Any time you lay down the ground rules for something, you normally start out with what is most important.  Such is the case here.  All of the others hinge upon the acknowledgment of God, putting Him first and having no other gods before Him.

 

Notice that the verse does not say "a god" or even "the God", but He is your God.  This fact doesn't hinge upon what we think of Him or how we react, whether we accept or reject Him.  The fact still remains, He Is, the LORD your God.

 

If we live with this thought first and foremost in our minds how would it change how we live?  Consider these words from "You are My King" (Amazing Love).

 

Amazing love, how can it be
That You, my King, should die for me?
Amazing love, I know it's true
It's my joy to honor You
In all I do, I honor You

 

Tomorrow's New Testament reading will be in Luke 15, the passage on the prodigal son.  Today's thoughts should be kept in mind if you decide to read that passage.  I'd encourage you to do so.

 

2 Cor 5: 14 Either way, Christ's love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. 15 He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.  NLT
 

Blessings,
Mike

Ex 20:1-18

20 And God spoke all these words, saying:

2 "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

3 "You shall have no other gods before Me.

4 "You shall not make for yourself a carved image — any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; 5 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

7 "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.

8 "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

12 "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which 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 bear false witness against your neighbor.

17 "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's."   NKJV

mikevw@bellsouth.net
mikesvotd.blogspot.com