Today’s Scripture Reading

⁷ “You shall have no other gods before me.
⁸ “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. ⁹ You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, ¹⁰ but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
¹¹ “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
¹² “Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the Lord your God has commanded you. ¹³ Six days you shall labor and do all your work, ¹⁴ but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns, so that your male and female servants may rest, as you do. ¹⁵ Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.
¹⁶ “Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
¹⁷ “You shall not murder.
¹⁸ “You shall not commit adultery.
¹⁹ “You shall not steal.
²⁰ “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
²¹ “You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. You shall not set your desire on your neighbor’s house or land, his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
DEU.5.7-21

Today’s Devotional Reading

The Ten Commandments

We may think that the Ten Commandments are about rules and regulations and how the universe has a law written into its fabric, but they’re really about relationships. When Moses gave these God-ordained commandments to the Israelites, it was to explain to them their relationship to God and to their neighbor. The first few commandments explain our relationship with God, that we must love Him alone and serve no other gods; that He merits our worship and He deserves our praise, and that we need to set aside time for Him.

The other commandments help us understand our relationships with one another: how we are to treat our parents, how we are to treat our spouses, how we are to treat one another’s property, and how we are to manage our hearts, as the commandment to not covet deals with our core desires and beliefs. These help us understand that we are supposed to have our hearts right before God. We are not to want the things that don’t belong to us and thus steal; we are not to want to possess persons who don’t belong to us and thus commit adultery. When we break the commandments, we harm our relationships with God and with our neighbors.

And so when Jesus taught us to love God with all of our heart, soul, and mind, and to love our neighbor as ourselves, He was reaffirming the Ten Commandments (Matthew 22:37–39). Paul and the apostle John reaffirmed them, and indeed, the Scriptures teach us these Ten Commandments in one way or another.

And so these commandments are binding on us today. Not for salvation, mind you; only belief and trust in Jesus bring that about. And yet these commandments help us, because God loves us and wants us to have a right relationship with Him; he also desires that we have a right relationship with one another, and thus enjoy God’s best for us.

Today’s devotional reading is pulled from: NIV Storyline Bible