Exodus 20 -- What God Personally Spoke

I liked the way my commentary fleshed out the Ten Commandments that God gave to the Israelites as His covenant with them.  Rather than “thou shalt nots”, it summarized them this way:

 

1)       Recognizing one true God

2)      Worshipping only the Lord

3)      Honoring God’s name

4)      Honoring the Sabbath

5)      Honoring one’s parents

6)      Honoring human life

7)      Honoring marriage

8)      Respecting personal property

9)      Speaking the truth

10)   Controlling desires

 

Under that last one, it said, “Covetous people will break all of God’s commandments in order to satisfy their DESIRES, because at the heart of sin is the sin in the heart.  To covet is to feed inward desires for anything that God says is sinful.  It was this commandment that ‘slew’ Saul of Tarsus and convicted this successful Pharisee that he was a sinner.”

 

It all comes down to the fact that it’s the thought that counts.  Saul had been looking only at outward actions and appearances, but in meeting Christ, he finally saw the wickedness in his own heart brought about by his desires, though no one else knew they existed.  But God is all-knowing and therefore knows our hearts.  We can’t hide anything from Him, including our thoughts, and anytime we allow ourselves to feed inward desires for things God has declared sinful, we are sinning as we do so.

 

Father, I know that I cannot dabble in thoughts about anything You call sin without awakening desires within myself that could lead to actions eventually.  I cannot excuse or justify doing so, for all I’m doing is buying into Satan’s lies.  You say to nip it in the bud, while Satan tells me to indulge myself.  I know whom I’m to believe – the One who has my very best interests at heart, Who loves me supremely, more than I even love myself.  When Satan whispers, please shout, Father.

 

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford