Boundaries

May 3, 2023

The Ten Commandments are not that hard to keep, really. You’d think God would have required more in this list of basics for right standing with God.

Look at the list. Have no other God. Don’t make any visible idol. Don’t cuss using God’s name. Go to church on Sunday. Honor your parents. No intimate relations outside of marriage. Don’t kill anybody. Don’t steal. Don’t lie about what a neighbor did. Don’t covet anything your neighbor has. All these things are doable by most everybody.

I know I’m oversimplifying. These guidelines only set boundaries. Much more is implied in what is written. Jesus set a higher standard, that was derived from the Ten Commandments and got more to the heart of what they were leading us to: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength and love your neighbor as yourself. (Matthew 22:37-39)

Those who love God and neighbor completely will manage to abide by the Ten Commandments pretty well. Those ten guidelines give us a practical place to start. They are only a start. We will not find the abundant life unless we obey the spirit of the law, not just the letter of the law. In II Corinthians 3:6 it says “the letter kills but the spirit gives life.”

To love God with your whole being takes more than avoiding breaking the ten basics. It takes giving up control and handing the leadership of your life to God. Loving your neighbor as yourself has more to do with ‘doing for’ the other person than ‘not doing anything bad’ to them.

I remember that Jesus said you can expect to receive according to the measurements by which you give.

“He who would save his life will lose it, and he who gives up his life for My sake will find it.”