Living in the Spirit
October 2, 2017
Scripture Reading: Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20
Then God spoke all these words:
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, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. –Exodus 20:1-4
I would be remiss in writing anything about the Ten Commandments if I did not recognize the importance of Joan Chittister’s book and study The Ten Commandments: Laws of the Heart, which gave me a new appreciation for the Commandments as a way of being rather than rules to follow.
The concept of the Commandments as a way of being has heightened my concern for our ages’ constricting idol worship to pagans happening centuries ago. While we may have outgrown carved objects as gods or not, we have created a multitude of ready replacements. Money and power perhaps top the list.
I have an even greater concern that we are being divided intentionally by principalities and powers who play our interests against each other dividing us to conquer us. Diversions for gain is nothing new it is at least as old as the oldest prophetic book in the Bible, Amos. The similarities between the people of Israel before their fall to Assyria and the United States today are chilling. The Israelites were investing their time and energies in short-term rewards without concern for long-term consequences.
Prayer: Lord, open our minds and hearts to your will for our lives. Amen.