The Big Ten

        Then Moses summoned all Israel and said to them:

      “Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the ordinances which I am speaking today in your hearing, that you may learn them and observe them carefully….”  God said,

        ‘I am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

         ‘You shall have no other gods before Me.

         ‘You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.  You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing loving-kindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

         ‘You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.

         ‘Observe the Sabbath day to keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you….  

        ‘Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, that your days may be prolonged and that it may go well with you on the land which the LORD your God gives you.

         ‘You shall not murder.

         ‘You shall not commit adultery.

         ‘You shall not steal.

         ‘You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

        ‘You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, and you shall not desire your neighbor’s house, his field or his male servant or his female servant, his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.’

Deuteronomy 5:1-2, 7-21

            We who have received Jesus as our Lord, Master and Savior are no longer under the law, but forgiven by God’s grace.  This does not mean we do not need to adhere to the Ten Commandments. 

        The Big Ten are a universal guide to a good life.  Striving to follow these commandments make us better people and bring us closer to God.