COME AS A CHILD LESSON 140 - THE FIRST PART OF TEN WAYS TO A GOOD LIFE

THE FIRST PART OF TEN WAYS TO A GOOD LIFE

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

So we find Moses still on the top of the mountain listening carefully to God.   

God has begun to explain to Moses about the ten ways that all of His people can have a better life.  God wishes for Moses to teach these ten ways to the people.  

These ten ways are the very basic steps to having a happy and joyful life full of love and health and order.  They applied back in the days of Moses; they apply now.  Jesus did not come to destroy the law; but to fulfill it!  

Jesus Christ kept every single law as He walked the earth.  That is what qualified Him to be The Perfect Lamb of God.  We are to follow Jesus and to immitate Him as best we can.  His grace is always sufficient when we fail; but we are to focus on trying not to break the laws of God; they are in our own best interest.  They were a gift from God that day as He spoke from the smoke and the lightning on the Holy Mountain.

These are the words that God uses as He begins to speak:

“I AM the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.”

Based on the way God begins to communicate here, do you think it is important for Moses and the people to know WHO God is and to recognize what all He has done for them so far?  

Yes!  I think that is very important!  

God had found them in their misery and toil.  He had rescued them from a life of bondage.  He had brought them out of a pagan land and a pagan culture and was bringing them back to a place of freedom, a place where they would be able to worship God as The One True God again.   He wanted to give them a GOOD life!

If you determine to worship God with all of your heart you must know that one thing is very important to God; and it is included in that first statement that God makes to Moses after God clearly states His soverign identity.  

That one important thing is: “YOU SHALL HAVE NO OTHER GODS BEFORE ME.”

The God who brought the Israelites out of Egypt IS the ONLY, ONE AND TRUE GOD that exists.  He makes this clear to the people right away.  They are not to worship the gods of the Egyptians any more.  They have seen how God has destroyed all evidence of these mythical, pagan gods being real, and that the God of the Israelites is the ONLY God that truly has power over the earth.  

God proved this evidence with the plagues.  

God proved this evidence with the parting of the sea.  

God proved this evidence with the water from the rock.  

God proved this evidence with the Manna from Heaven.  

God proved this with the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire that they followed through the dessert.  

There is NO EXCUSE for the worship of other Gods.  

Just because we do not have a statue of Baal in our home does not mean that we are free of idols in our lives!

Have you ever taken a close examination of your own daily life to see if there is any evidence of pagan worship?   You might be very surprised at the way the world rubs off on you before you even notice what is happening.  Here are a few questions to study and consider:

Even your thinking process can be full of idols.  Are you taking every thought captive in order to obey the Word of God and His way of life?  

What is your "self-talk" like?  Does it match God's word?  If not; you are telling yourself lies and setting up false idols inside your head.

Is your mind free of the world's systems and human ideas and imaginations that do not match the ways of God?

Are you controlled by the media, your neighbor's ways, the public school system's ways, your parent's ideas, your friend's suggestions and actions?  

Do you find yourself living in doubt and denial of the power of God over your life?

Is your pride more important to you than the ways of a loving God?

Put out an all points bulliten for the idols in your life; even those that only lurk in your thoughts!  Identify them and take them captive.  

"High places" or places of pagan worship do not belong in the life of the Bride of Christ.  Get a perspective of God's places and live there.  

Is there somewhere that you are going that puts you in spiritual jeapordy?  

Is there something that you are doing that needs to come under control?  

If you have a shrine or an altar that does not belong to God, destroy it immediately and receive the freedom from the bondage of sin that will come to you from your loving Father.

   

In speaking to Moses on the mountain, God went on to explain this a little further.  Since HE was the ONLY God that truly exists; he explains: 

“YOU SHALL NOT MAKE FOR YOURSELVES AN IMAGE IN THE FORM OF ANYTHING IN HEAVEN ABOVE OR ON THE EARTH BENEATH, OR IN THE WATERS BELOW.  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, BUT SHOWING LOVE TO A THOUSAND GENERATIONS OF THOSE WHO LOVE ME AND KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS.”

There seems to be serious consequences for those who break the first of these ten ways to have a good life.  God says He will punish the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Him; but God will show love to a thousand generations of those who love Him.

I think God used such stern words to help the people grasp the importance of the matter.  He is telling them things that will benefit them in their lives and God wants them to know how best to live a full and happy life.  If they do not listen to Him and heed God’s words; the laws that God set into motion as Creator of the Universe will take effect and work against them and their children and grandchildren.   God wishes for ALL generations to be taught His ways and for ALL generations to follow them.  This is much to the advantage of the people. 

Putting God first and above all other things has become a way of life that we relate to following the First Commandment of God.  

Surely, after living in misery for so long in a foreign land as slaves the people of Israel had seen what NOT putting God first was like.  Why would they ever want to go back to that way of life that they had miraculously escaped?  Why would they ever bow before a pagan god or make a pagan image to worship after seeing how powerless the pagan gods were before The One and Only True God?

This little talk with Moses on the top of the mountain is simply God’s way of helping them to ALWAYS remember. 

In Matthew 22:37 – 38 Jesus called this first commandment of God the “greatest” commandment.  We will hear God summing this up later to the people of Israel by stating:  “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all of your strength.”  (Deut. 6:5). 

Do you get the idea that God wants us to remember that He loves us and we are to love Him back?  It is all about love, God’s love for us and our love for God.  

Love is the spiritual intent of the law.  The time on Mount Siniai with God was considered to be the wedding between Israel and God.  

In order to take wedding vows; total love and devotion is required of both parties.  The people have already promised and sent Moses to tell God that they will do as He has said.  God is merely stating the conditions of the relationship and vowing to keep His part and expecting the same from the people that He is taking as a bride under the covenant of marriage; a covenant that should never be broken or annulled.   

The goal of the people from this point forward will be to seek God and His righteousness above all other things.  As a bride is true to only her husband, so should the people be true to only worshipping The One True God of Heaven and Earth.  There are to be no other lovers!  They should never bow before anyone or anything else in worship.  God is a jealous God!  Their focus is to be on God and God alone; never leaning toward their own understanding but trusting in His every word and listening and obeying His every command. 

The right response to God will carry reverence and deep respect for His almighty power and majesty.  It is a fear that comes from deep love, a type of fear that is respectful and in awe; not a fear that leaves one in panic or trembling.  It is a healthy fear; one that is in our best interest and one that keeps our lives in check and on the right path.  When we obey God and put Him first in our lives because of this healthy fear; we begin to grow more and more in love.  Sooner or later the love replaces the fear and peace and contentment come from the knowledge of knowing that God has our best interest in mind and is always looking out for us by showing us the best ways to live. 

It seems that God’s main objective in teaching us this is to keep sin far away from our lives.  Anytime that we put anything before God in our living; sin creeps in to destroy us and rob us of our joy.  

False religion and false gods are a sin.  

Self worship is a sin.  

God must always have first place in our hearts for us to be truly happy.  We need to continually be seeking to see things from God’s perspective.  Our own view of the world can get skewed and twisted if we aren’t very careful to be putting God first. 

This commandment to love God above all else was the wedding vow of Isreal, and thus the wedding vow of God’s people forever.  It should never be considered a burden but always be considered a delight.  When you truly love God with all of your heart and put Him first in your life you receive a gift of tremendous joy in your heart. 

The love of God has rescued us from a heavy bondage.   Whether it is from the bondage of physical slavery like these Israelites experienced or the bondage of sin; the results are the same.  God’s love has saved us and we are to respond by loving Him and serving Him forever.  

Knowing and following The One True God sets us free from bondage and gives us an abundant life. 

The first commandment is God’s wedding vow to us.  

It is a heavenly gift that is priceless beyond compare.  

Let us love God and always honor this first best way to live!