Do we realize how far we are from God; or do we just continue to justify ourselves, no matter how bad the things we are doing are? Let’s just for a while stop finding excuses for everything we do, and try to look at ourselves with God’s eyes! Let’s have a look in the mirror God has made for us in order to see ourselves just like we are!
The Ten Commandments are so well-known, so popular that you can even buy a little print of them in a store and put it on your screen-door! But the Ten Commandments are serious business. God gave them to us as a measure of the things we have to do in order to please Him, the Heavenly Father, and to deserve to be called a child of God.
Consider the first one: "I am the Lord thy God.... Thou shalt have no other gods before me." Do we live in accordance with this commandment? Or do we worship a whole bunch of other gods, such as: material wealth, pleasure, and fun of all kinds, Hollywood, sport stars, etc., etc.? What about our relationship to Jesus Christ, God who lived among us and humiliated himself for our sake? Do we keep the memory of Him and what He has done for us by fasting Wednesdays and Fridays, the days when He was betrayed and killed? Is it really Jesus Christ who we are celebrating on Christmas, by irrational spending of money and overeating? What about other holy days, like Halloween when we seem to venerate demonic creatures from the dark world of Satan? No matter how colored and “funny” it is in our imagination, all these things distract us from God and make us have other gods instead of Him.
The Fourth Commandment: "Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy" does not suggest that the rest of the days of the week could be unholy. God wants believers to obey His Commandments unceasingly without intervals in responsible life. The believers' deeds and thoughts should be godly in every respect, in work and play, in studies and worship, throughout the entire week, in order to be holy and worthy of the name of God. However, this commandment was given to us so we can dedicate our lives to the Lord for one whole day; that is, to study His message more and more, to sacrifice a part of our money and pleasure, to help others in the name of Lord, to prepare ourselves for the commencement of the new week. It is a disappointing phenomenon that even religious people use Sunday for their own pleasure and relaxation and for many other activities when these are the days set aside for the Lord.
The Ten Commandments are so well-known, so popular that you can even buy a little print of them in a store and put it on your screen-door! But the Ten Commandments are serious business. God gave them to us as a measure of the things we have to do in order to please Him, the Heavenly Father, and to deserve to be called a child of God.
Consider the first one: "I am the Lord thy God.... Thou shalt have no other gods before me." Do we live in accordance with this commandment? Or do we worship a whole bunch of other gods, such as: material wealth, pleasure, and fun of all kinds, Hollywood, sport stars, etc., etc.? What about our relationship to Jesus Christ, God who lived among us and humiliated himself for our sake? Do we keep the memory of Him and what He has done for us by fasting Wednesdays and Fridays, the days when He was betrayed and killed? Is it really Jesus Christ who we are celebrating on Christmas, by irrational spending of money and overeating? What about other holy days, like Halloween when we seem to venerate demonic creatures from the dark world of Satan? No matter how colored and “funny” it is in our imagination, all these things distract us from God and make us have other gods instead of Him.
The Fourth Commandment: "Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy" does not suggest that the rest of the days of the week could be unholy. God wants believers to obey His Commandments unceasingly without intervals in responsible life. The believers' deeds and thoughts should be godly in every respect, in work and play, in studies and worship, throughout the entire week, in order to be holy and worthy of the name of God. However, this commandment was given to us so we can dedicate our lives to the Lord for one whole day; that is, to study His message more and more, to sacrifice a part of our money and pleasure, to help others in the name of Lord, to prepare ourselves for the commencement of the new week. It is a disappointing phenomenon that even religious people use Sunday for their own pleasure and relaxation and for many other activities when these are the days set aside for the Lord.
1 comment:
Don't you believe in letting kids dress up for Halloween? That's an American tradition that goes way back. As long as we don't dress up like devils and witches, what's wrong with it?
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