Canthook

It's Sunday, and I don't do this very often, so please indulge me.

1. My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments:
2. For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.
3. Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:
4. So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man.
5. Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
6. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
7. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.
8. It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.
9. Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase:
10. So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.
11. My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction:
12. For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son [in whom] he delighteth.

Dr. Moss (the pastor who took over for "Obama's Crazy Preacher") spoke on Proverbs 3:1-10 on their broadcast this morning.

Proverbs isn't just part of the Protestant bible. It's part of the Roman Catholic bible, part of the Jewish bible, even part of the Muslim sacred texts.

So are the Ten Commandments - the only part of the bible that claims to have been written by God. I wasn't paying too much attention to what Dr. Moss said; I fell asleep, which a former pastor said was sure sign of a clean conscience. (So much he knows!)

But the message is pretty clear. The Ten Commandments weren't foist upon us as a way of showing that we're willing to kiss God's ass in order to show we're worthy of eternal life. Instead, the Ten Commandments are there to help us lead long, healthy, happy lives.

"And God spoke all these words, saying:

1. I am the LORD your God. You shall have no other gods before Me.
   He didn't say he was the only god, only that he was the one that mattered.
2. 'You shall not make for yourself a carved image-any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
   Pay attention to what matters. Worry about taking care of your self and others, even if it means putting less pollution in the air. Don't get upset about silly rituals that vary from faith to faith.
3. You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.
   This isn't about using rude language when you're stressed. It's about being faithful. Don't take an oath or a vow unless you intend to keep it - and once you take it, keep it.
4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
   Officially, the Sabbath is from Friday sundown to Saturday sundown. The point here is to take time for yourself, instead of working yourself to death. Take your coffee breaks, your days off, your vacations, and enjoy them with your family - and insist your subordinates do the same.
5. Honor your father and your mother.
   The reason "the oldest trick in the book" is in the book, is because it works. There's a tendency to strike out on your own and try new things, and that's how we make progress, but mostly, it's how we make mistakes.
6. You shall not murder.
   The biggest reason we don't kill each other is not that there's nobody that "deserves" it, but that we live in a society where people depend on each other, and murder destroys that trust. If we don't trust each other, we'll soon be slaves to some other society. Not good.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
   Committing adultery is not an act of sex, but an act of betrayal. You're breaking your marital vow. Domestic tranquility leads to a long, happy life; domestic discord hurts not only you and your spouse, but your children as well. Behave yourself!
8. You shall not steal.
   Again, we have a breakdown of society at stake. If you put as much effort into making stuff as you might spend trying to steal it, not only would you have the stuff, but the victim of your crime would have it, too.
9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
   Again, this is a breakdown of society issue. Perjury is nasty. That's why Bill Clinton was disbarred, the high crime for which he was tried by Congress. And if they'd paid attention, instead of wandering afield into fornication, which is neither a high crime nor a sin, he'd have been removed from the Presidency.
10. You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's.
    This is the one that drives people crazy, and that's because they don't understand "covet". That term is often used to mean "to wish for, eagerly" and that's OK. It's the "to desire wrongfully, inordinately, or without due regard for the rights of others" that is used here. We need to respect that which belongs to others, instead of conniving and chiseling to obtain it for ourselves.

And people think the Ten Commandments are hard to obey? Not at all. The problem with sin is that every Tom, Dick, and Harry has cluttered things up, by defining other things as sinful, such as fornication and masturbation, gambling, eating fish on Friday, wearing patent leather shoes that reflect up, and whispering in the pews.

Tain't so, McGee! Only God gets to define what sin is.

Other Bloggers On Related Topics:
Dr Moss - Proverbs 3 - sin - ten commandments