COME AS A CHILD - LESSON 147 - A COMMANDMENT WITH CONSEQUENCES

KEEPING THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

The next commandment that God gave to Moses on the mountain is one of two commandments that have to do with the consequences of sexual sins.  All sexual sins have consequences and God wants His children to be spared this sadness and tragedy in their lives.

This seventh commandment was given to help us to overcome the lusts of the flesh that are brought on by wrong sexual desires.  Contrary to popular public opinion, this isn’t an outdated commandment.  It is just as relevant and just as significant today as the day God gave it to Moses; only our current culture chooses to ignore it for the most part.  That doesn’t make it okay.  

In so many sections of today’s modern world sexual immorality is no longer regarded as evil or wrong.  Not only are married couples cheating on their spouses, but young couples have decided that living together without marrying is perfectly acceptable and sex outside of marriage is perfectly fine.  God, however, condemns all forms of sexual immorality.  It could not be clearer than the words written down in the prophetic book of Revelation in Chapter 21, verse 8:  “But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars – they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur.  This is the second death.”

Why would God want to confine us this way?  God isn’t against sex folks; He created it!  However, He created it to take place in the natural context of marriage between one man and one woman for the duration of one lifetime.  It is a special formula for happiness that God created and set into motion just for married couples.  If you decide to start breaking the rules of God’s formula, you will reap the consequences of breaking God’s laws. 

God didn’t make these rules to make our lives harder; He did it to make our lives easier!  If you don’t believe this; ask anyone you know that has broken this commandment just how complicated their life became during the process!  Almost everyone who has ever lived through an adulterous affair would be quick to tell you they do not wish to go there again.  They have their scars and wounds to prove this.  It is a revolving door to grief.  Almost anything you do hurts someone.  There is no way out without injury, both to yourself and to numerous others.  Still many do not think about these consequences; they simply dive into their passions and wonder what went wrong in the end.

God’s thinking is so much higher and holier, and so far beyond the way we think on a human level, that He tried to warn us about this.  Knowing our weaknesses, God actually gave us the commandment that would prevent our troubles.   It is the love that He has for us that brought this commandment to be number seven on the list of ten.

Every time I think of God giving this commandment I think of a little scene that took place at a family gathering in my living room with my two year old granddaughter.  What happened so innocently with her that day painted a crystal clear picture for me of the reality of how we are to resist any passions and trust God to guide us through those times when we are tempted. 

She was over at our house playing while the adults were engaged in conversation and she asked her father for another piece of chocolate candy.  She had already consumed some chocolate earlier.  He said “no” and she was VERY disappointed.  Like all grandchildren, she appealed the case to her grandmother.  She came to me with big pouty eyes and said “Papa will not let me have any more chocolate!   Grandmother, why won’t Papa let me have more chocolate?”  Without even thinking I blurted out the first thought that came to mind (probably from The Holy Spirit) and said “He won’t let you have any more chocolate because he loves you too much.” 

You should have seen the confused and surprised look on her face!

In her two year old logic she couldn’t understand why it was so bad for her to eat too much chocolate, and she LOVED it so much; but her two year old logic DID understand the concept of real love from her father.  Once I said what I did, she GOT the fact that her dad wasn’t being mean to her, but he was looking after her own best interest whether she understood it or not. 

Her whole countenance changed!   She went from being angry with her father to pondering, then walking across the room to give him a hug and left in a much happier mood, forgetting all about the chocolate!   She was learning to trust her father's judgment.

It was a beautiful moment, and I caught myself thinking that is just how our relationship with God is.  We want what we want and we don’t understand when He won’t let us have what we want; then looking back we begin to see that His thinking was so far ahead of ours and His wisdom was so much greater than ours; and God only forbids us from the things that are harmful to us because He loves us.  If we could only see this when we are in the confines of our moments of passion and desire; and simply trust our heavenly Father's judgement, the whole world would change!  We would lead healthy and happy lives.  When we accept his love over our logic; joy comes instead of sorrow.  When we don’t; sorrow is not a strong enough word to describe the troubles that only multiply.   

Most people only consider how hard this commandment is to keep.  Of course they don’t discuss that fact out loud; but they DO consider it, and they consider it often.  However there is the other side of the scale:  if you KEEP God’s laws and confine your sexual desires to only your own mate in the context of marriage; you will be blessed beyond measure.  It is that simple.  Yet; it is that complicated!

As we grow and learn (hopefully by trust and not experimentation) we begin to see this isn’t simply a matter of resisting sexual desire.  It is all about self-control.  Self-control is one of the greatest virtues that any child of God could ever aspire to develop.  Self-control eliminates so many of the difficulties in life; not just the ones that involve lust and desire.   Self-control is all about being strong instead of weak.  It is about overcoming instead of giving in to our own desires, or the easy way at the moment.  The seventh commandment is about learning to be strong instead of weak and learning to overcome in all circumstances.  When we allow God to help us replace these sins with these virtues; the blessings are many.    

Just as we saw in the sixth commandment; God gave Moses the condensed version of this commandment and Jesus expanded on it later.  Jesus had a lot to say about adultery.   Anyone studying the scriptures in detail and taking the advice of Jesus in relation to sexual morality would quickly see and realize that adultery starts in the heart.  Thoughts given enough time usually provoke action.  How a man (or woman) thinks in his or her heart is how they are going to relate to the world.  If lust is allowed to lurk inside your mind you are more likely to become vulnerable to the real thing.  The devil is always prowling around like a roaring lion just waiting on you to let your guard down and that is when he will present you with your greatest temptations.  Heed the warnings of Jesus to keep your mind free of lustful thoughts.  Matthew 5:27-28 gives the instructions of Christ:  “You have heard that it was said by them of old time, You shall not commit adultery, but I say unto you, that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart.” 

Most people tend to read the above quote from Jesus and feel helpless and hopeless.  Everyone at some time or another has wrong thoughts, but we must always remember that Jesus is not without mercy, and He didn’t make this statement to condemn the whole world.  He died to save us; remember?  So, how do we go about changing wrong thoughts and actions and begin conforming to God’s commandments to stay sexually moral in the world we live in today where temptations are thrown in our face every time we turn on the TV, look at a computer or walk through the neighborhood? 

Let’s look at the woman caught in adultery that we read of in John 8:11.  When this woman was brought before Jesus He neither condoned her sin nor condemned her as a person.  He gave her the key to changing in the future with his words which were “go and sin no more.”  That is what we are to do.  We are all like this woman who found Jesus.  He forgave her and made her clean again.  When temptation comes we must repent and change and sin no more.  Pray for strength over weakness.  Pray to overcome any desire that is too hard for you.  None of us have it within our own being to change; but with the power of God all things are possible. God will not leave you or forsake you if you simply chose to turn to him in your time of need.

We must return our hearts to what God intended for His people.  We must follow and keep the seventh commandment in our hearts and teach our children to do the same. 

It is a good thing to keep looking for biblical examples of overcoming.  They are so helpful.  I am always encouraged to ponder how the Apostle Paul spoke of overcoming in 2 Corinthians 12:9 when he said:  “”But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”  Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”

In this commandment as in all the others it is only Christ living in us and through us that brings us peace and contentment right where we are and this is how His love prevails and overcomes the things of the world. God will teach us self-control if we allow him to do so.

So keep walking and obeying the commandments!

Keep overcoming.  

Keep asking for mercy when you fail.  

He is coming again!  Keep your eye on the prize for He has overcome the world!