Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.
JOSHUA 1:8
The Bible is living, vital, and relevant. God knows how to maximize our potential and his Word shows us how to live our lives passionately and with purpose. Society has created hundreds of thousands of laws and bylaws, rules and regulations, but no one has ever been able to improve on the Ten Commandments.
Winning in life is a natural by-product of obedience to God’s law. Conversely, failure or disqualification can be a by-product of disobedience. If we break God’s rules, there are consequences. Disobeying God’s rules is like deciding to drive on the wrong side of the road late at night. We have the power and choice to do it, but we are likely to end up killing ourselves and someone else as a consequence.
Like any good parent, the boundaries that God establishes for us are there for our protection. Since God is good and does good, then surely the law that he gave to the children of Israel was good and for their good. The problem was not the law; it was what man did to the law that turned it into religious bondage. When God says that we shouldn’t be sleeping around, committing adultery or fornicating, it is because he knows that such activities lead to sexual diseases, broken hearts, damaged emotions, and wounded souls. When God tells us not to covet things that belong to other people, it is because he knows we will never be truly happy until we are content with what he has already blessed us with.
Many pay lip service to living God’s way but aren’t really prepared to obey his Word when the crunch comes. We live in a world that is self-absorbed and self-indulgent, where people do what is right in their own eyes. Against this backdrop, God’s Word is still powerful, true, relevant, and prophetic. It is not some archaic, legalistic, irrelevant book, but rather the way to true life, abundance, health, success, and prosperity. Do it God’s way — it always has been and always will be the best way.
MOMENT OF REFLECTION
How do you believe the Ten Commandments are relevant to your life?
How do they help you in your quest to follow God?