Obey His Commandments

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Friday morning, the 31st of March, 2023, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We start in Exodus 20. You can read it yourself, it is the Ten Commandments that were given to Moses by our Heavenly Father on the top of Mount Sinai, written into stone by the finger of God. 

“My son, keep my words,
And treasure my commands within you.
Keep my commands and live,
And my law as the apple of your eye.”
Proverbs 7:1-2

The Ten Commandments were given to us by God, not for Himself, He doesn’t have to keep them, He is God, but they are for us to help us. They are put in place for our good. They prevent us from bending the law, taking shortcuts, and they prevent us from telling white lies. Oh yes! You know, they prevent us from that moment of madness which causes a lifetime of sadness. I am not suggesting for a moment that we try to earn our way to Heaven with good works. No, no, no! No one knows that better than me, a sinner saved by grace, which is undeserved loving-kindness. Ephesians 2:8 tells us that we have been saved by grace through faith, and even that not of ourselves for even that was a gift from God, but the law of God protects you and me from the temptations of satan himself.

If you go back to that scripture in Proverbs 7 and read the whole chapter, you will see that the writer speaks about the young man who is tempted by a woman whose husband is away and she seduces him into her house, just like an ox that is being led to the slaughter. I have seen it too many times, I have been to maximum security prisons and I have seen men, hardened criminals with tattoos all over them, you can see they are into drugs and he is standing next to another absolutely petrified prisoner. You can see he has come from a refined home but he made a mistake didn’t he? What did he do? He put his fingers in the till and he is in for fraud. He will tell you, “I meant to pay it back”, but he didn’t have time and the auditors caught him.

Don’t do it! God put the commandments in place to protect us from the wiles of the devil. Remember that song?

A new commandment I give unto you,
That you love one another,
As I have loved you,
That you love another,
As I have loved you.

And by this shall all men know
That you are my disciples,
If you have love, 
One for another.

And by this shall all men know
That you are my disciples,
If you have love, 
One for another.

May the Lord bless you and keep you in Jesus’ precious name as you walk in the blessing of God by obeying His commandments.

Goodbye.