TRULY SEEING THE 10

TRULY SEEING THE 10

Wednesday, July 04, 2018

Matthew [GW] 22:34-40 When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. One of them, an expert in Moses' Teachings, tested Jesus by asking, "Teacher, which commandment is the greatest in Moses' Teachings?" Jesus answered him, "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the greatest and most important commandment. The second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as you love yourself.' All of Moses' Teachings and the Prophets depend on these two commandments."

   On Sunday mornings Pastor John Sievering is teaching on the Ten Commandments, repeatedly emphasizing the central

reason for them. They are not primarily about restriction and prohibition unless through resistance we make them so. They are about worship and community; love God, love people. This being a theme in OT and NT that Jesus clearly explained to His followers.

  The apostle Paul reiterated this truth in his epistle to the Roman Christians. The gifts are about worship and community; love God, love one another. (Chapter 12)

  Decades earlier Bill Harrington taught me that we shouldn’t think of the 10 as a fence to keep us in, but as a fence to protect us.

  Pastor John is much younger than me. Bill is older. Both are respected elders to me. This is evidence of God’s grace in my life for what now seems like an eon ago I would have considered one a puppy and the other an old man.

  Love God, love people.

EBB4