Verse for the Day, 4 September 2014.

Exodus 20:15, “You shall not steal.”

Many of us have been victims of theft, it leaves us feeling violated, vulnerable and angry. We spend much of our lives trying to avoid being victims, we put several locks on our doors, we have car alarms, we don’t carry large sums of money, and we lock our valuables up in a safe. Every street we walk down, or building we enter has security doors, security guards, CCTV and many other security measures design to deter thieves, or to catch them in the act. Therefore this commandment is one that we all desire to see upheld and instilled in our country.

Why did God give this commandment?

We shall look four at reasons.

In order to understand why God gave this commandment, we need to ask what lies at the heart of theft, what prompts a person to steal? Often the desire and motivation to steal is that of envy, selfishness and greed. They see something they desire and want, therefore they take it, without regard for those who might be harmed or affected by their actions. A thief shows no respect for ownership, for property or possessions, or for those whom they impoverish. God desires for the people of Israel to respect each other’s property and possessions, to live in contentment and peace with one another. Furthermore God desires that they learn to trust Him to provide for their needs and to be willing to work for that which they need, instead of stealing it from others. All this is design to build a stronger nation, whereby there are relationships of trust between each other, where people, their property and what they have worked hard to earn is respected and protected. It is designed so as to build a nation that trusts God in all things, including their daily needs, and a nation of diligent, honest, hard-working people, who seek to glorify and honour God in all things.

There is another reason as to why some people may be motivated to steal, and that is because of poverty. Sadly we live in a world where there is much poverty, to the point that for some the only means that they think they have to secure food is to steal it. Therefore some theft, is as some would express it, theft of necessity. However, we need to understand that theft is theft, whether it is prompted by greed, or by poverty and hunger, it is still sinful. The fact that for some theft is the only hope they have, reveals a larger and deeper problem in society, the problem of greed and selfishness. For many in the world it is a case of wanting to have more and more, to be richer than others, even if it means impoverishing others. Many do not see any reason as to why they should be willing to give, to share what they have, with those who do not have. We withhold, hoard and refuse to share, help, or distribute evenly. This manner of living is strongly condemned by Scripture, and God does warn the people of Israel about failing to care for and consider those who are poor. God is not condemning wealth, or those who come into wealth by virtue of their hard work, but He is condemning selfishness and greed. God blesses some with an abundance, so that they might help others who are in need.

This commandment is a revealing one, for is exposes what lies at the heart of all mankind, in the heart of the thief, the heart of the rich and the heart of the poor. We are all proud and selfish, we often feel as though we do not have enough and want more. We will be quick to condemn the thief, but fail to regard what we do as theft, whether it is lying on a tax return, or when we are given more change than what we should receive at the Supermarket we simply take it, and choose not to point it out to the cashier. While this commandment is condemning theft, it is at the same time warning us to guard our hearts against pride, selfishness and greed, whilst encouraging us to trust God to supply our needs, to be diligent and hardworking, and to be mindful of the poor, willing to share out of the abundance that God gives to us.

This commandment is one of love and life. From the protection of people, property and possessions, to the generosity of the rich and to the consideration of the poor, all these combine to produce a country in which there is trust, respect, safety, peace, generosity, diligence and thankfulness. God desires for us to live in such a manner, and we would all agree, for we would all want to live in such a place. God desires that we love and trust Him to provide and that we love and respect one another. If we do this, not only shall our lives be further enriched as we come to know the wonderful and faithful provision of God, we shall be further enriched as we love one another and receive the joy that comes from helping and sharing with others. It is a commandment of love and life, given in love, so that we might love and know a greater and more joyful measure of life.

Father of all, we know that all things belong to You, and even though everything belongs to You, You are a generous and kind God. You faithfully supply our every need, You are the giver of many good gifts. Forgive us for often being dissatisfied with what we have and then looking in envy at others, forgive us for the times when we have been tempted, or have even taken that which is not ours. We pray that You might help us to trust You more and to be willing to follow the example You set for us, by being generous towards others who find themselves in need. May we show our love for You by the manner in which we love and respect one another. Amen.

Verse for the Day, 3 September 2014.

Exodus 20:14, “You shall not commit adultery.”

As with the previous commandment, we can all readily see the importance, need and relevance of this commandment. We live in a time where marital faithfulness appears to be at an all-time low, and promiscuity is encouraged in society and by the media. Therefore this commandment is highly relevant to our time.

Why did God give this command?

We shall look at five reasons.

God gave this command because of how and when marriage was instituted. It is of vital importance that we remember that marriage is not man-made, man did not invent or institute marriage. Marriage was created and instituted by God. Furthermore we need to remember that God undertook this work when the world was still in perfection, thus marriage was created as something holy and pleasing unto God, and should always remain holy and pleasing to Him. If we remove these two truths from marriage we rip the heart, we remove the core and we undermine the foundation of marriage. In fact we see the evidence of this very reality all around us, mankind has sought to remove God from marriage, but in doing so it has only led to compromise, sin, distress, divorce, misery and untold suffering. Marriage is created by God, it was created in perfection, as something which was holy and pleasing to Him and should always remain as such.

God gave this command because of the design and purpose that He gave to marriage. It is God’s design and purpose for marriage that a man and a woman should come together in love for God and in love for one another, pledging their life-long commitment to each other in the bond of marriage. Marriage is a covenant, it is a three way covenant between husband, wife and God. The husband pledges his commitment to his wife, the wife pledges her commitment to her husband, and then together as husband and wife they pledge to commitment themselves and their marriage to God. God’s design, purpose and desire for marriage is that this covenant is upheld and that the husband and wife faithfully carry out the God ordained roles within the context of marriage. Where there is faithfulness to God, faithfulness to our spouses and a willing obedience of God’s design for marriage and the distinct roles that He has given to us, then there will be a prosperous and happy marriage. When we remove God from marriage and are more concerned with ourselves, living in selfishness, it will lead to the breakdown of our marriage.

God gave this commandment because of the uniqueness of marriage and the covenant between husband and wife. In the context of marriage a husband and wife share themselves, their lives, their love and their bodies with each other in a completely unique manner. So deep, unique and exclusive is this sharing with our spouse, that we do not share ourselves in this manner with any other person. God designed and desires for us to only ever express this love and share ourselves in this manner with our spouse and no other. Thus when a spouse does commit adultery it violates this unique expression of love, it violates the bond and covenant of marriage, it defiles that which is meant to be holy, pure and pleasing unto God. It is precisely because of this deep and unique love that makes adultery so painful for the spouse that has been sinned against. The pain caused by knowing that your spouse has shared what was meant to be exclusive to your marriage, with someone else, thus is it no longer exclusive or unique.

God gave this commandment for the protection of marriage and for the protection of the family. The people of Israel were about to go into the Promised Land, and would be surrounded by other nations and people groups that lived contrary to God’s ways. They were nations beset with sexually promiscuity, sex-cults, and marriage was not held in high regard. Tragically, man in his sinfulness, has become most perverse, and God knows the temptation, selfishness, greed, pride, jealousy and lust that resides in every heart. God also knows the great amount of pain and suffering that comes as a result of this, especially in the context of marriage. God desires for the people of Israel to be different from the nations around them, to display to the world what God’s design and purpose for marriage is, and the great joy that is found in it. God desires for the people of Israel to be faithful, faithful to Him and faithful to their spouses and families. Therefore through this command God seeks to impress upon them the importance, the sacredness and the uniqueness of marriage. He wants them and us to hold marriage in the very highest regard.

We can easily see that this commandment is one of love and life. God loves marriage, God blesses marriage. God want us to love marriage and uphold marriage. When we follow God’s pattern for marriage and seek to remain faithful to the covenant we made on our wedding day, we are lead to a deeper and richer understanding and experience of both love and life. This then has a positive impact upon our children, who learn from us what faithfulness to God and each other looks like. The children are loved and raised in the God ordained manner and thus the whole family knows and enjoys a deeper and richer understanding of love and life. This in turn has a positive national impact. Where there are strong families, families that are faithful to God and to each other, obeying God, it will lead to a strong nation, marked by its uniqueness and faithfulness. This is a command of love and life.

Heavenly Father, how we thank You for the wonderful blessing of marriage, which You created for us to know and enjoy. We pray that You will impress upon our hearts the purity and uniqueness of marriage. Increase in our hearts today, our love for You, our love for purity and holiness, our love for our spouses and our love for our families. May we seek to glorify You in our marriages, through our faithfulness. Amen.

Verse for the Day, 1 September 2014.

Exodus 20:13, “You shall not murder.”

We live in a day and age where we not only hear but know the truth of the saying, “Life is cheap.” On too many occasions men, women and even children have had their lives taken from them for the poorest and most selfish of reasons. Therefore it is not difficult for us to see the necessity of this fifth commandment.

Why did God give this commandment?

We shall look at four reasons:

God is the creator and sovereign ruler over all things, including life, therefore God alone is the giver and taker of life. This teaches us, firstly, that because God is the creator and giver of life, and because God is holy and perfect, life, human life was created as holy and perfect. Therefore, we are to regard human life as sacred, precious, God-given and should never be viewed as anything less than this. Secondly, because our lives are given to us by God and are ruled over by God, we do not have the right to take the life of another, in and of our own accord. Scripture makes this clear to us on a number of occasions, it is God that both gives and takes life, it is His sovereign right to do so. To take the life of another for our own selfish reasons is to elevate ourselves to the position of God, and to regard their lives as being of lesser worth than our own.

Men and women are created in the image of God. How is this linked to the fifth commandment? It means that if we seek to harm, or even murder another person, we are attacking, coming against and seeking to destroy that which is created in the image of God. Thus murder is not just an assault on the person, it is also an assault on God who created them in His image and gave them life.

Life is precious, sacred and is to be upheld, promoted, protected and enjoyed. God created us to live, and to enjoy life in His presence, under His rule. Sin impacted greatly upon this, but it did not change the manner in which we are to view or regard life. Clear evidence of this is seen in some of the laws that the people of Israel were given, in regards to how they were to build their houses, manage their livestock and manage their property. Laws were also given in regards to how they should exercise self-control and restraint in the midst of an angry conflict, so as to not cause physical harm. All these laws are given so as to ensure that the people of Israel understood how precious life was and therefore sought to protect, uphold and preserve it to the best of their ability.

In many respects it is straight-forward to see how this commandment is one of life and love. As has already been stated life is precious to God and He wants it to be equally precious to us. God created us to live and therefore we should do all that we can to uphold, preserve and protect life. We should teach others about the sacredness of life in God’s sight and remind them of the unique privilege we enjoy because we are created in God’s image. God loves life, He wants us to love life, He wants us to love the lives of others and He wants us to love living with Him, in His kingdom. This is all part of the reason as to why Christ came and in a stunning act of grace sacrificed His life, so that we might receive eternal life through faith in Him.

Father of Life, we thank You for the wonderful privilege of being created in Your image. We confess that we don’t really understand what it means and how great a privilege it is to be created in Your image. Help us to understand and appreciate this more and more. We pray that You will also help us to realise just how sacred and precious life is to You, so that we might seek to uphold and protect better than what we already do. Teach us to appreciate the lives of others, realising that they too are created in Your image and are therefore equally precious to You. Amen