The Commandments Of The Lord

Do you know much about the Ten Commandments? Like perhaps where they are located in the Bible. Well they are in Exodus 20 in verses 1 through 17. And are you aware that there is a method to the way in which God established these commandments? Well the first four of the commandments pertain to man's relationship to God. They all have to do with us in our everyday dealing with God. And the other six commandments have to do with man's relationship to man. Read them. You'll see the connection there easily.

The reason I ask is because of 1 Chronicles 22:13 which says "Then you shall prosper, if you are careful to observe the statutes and the ordinances which the Lord commanded Moses concerning Israel. Be strong and courageous, do not fear nor be dismayed." Now according to my way of thinking, this verse of scripture lines up beautifully with what I have been writing about for over two months now and that is our witness on this earth. If I understand Hebrew tradition correctly, they believe that the book was written by Ezra and this verse explains that we are doing our job when we are in observation of the guidelines set up by God, sent down by Moses and eventually Jesus Christ (verse below).

What about the "New Commandments" that Jesus established when He walked on the earth? Do you know where they are? Theses two commandments are in Matthew 22: 37-39 and they say "...You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

So it make perfect sense in 1 Corinthians 1:23,24 where Paul says "but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block, and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called (that's you an me), both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God." (read Ro. 8:28). All the disciples preached Christ crucified, buried and risen from the grave. That is still the message today. One of my favorite scripture verses is in Philippians 3:14 "I press on (we press on) toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." What does that "pressing on" consist of? Matthew 28: 18-20; We Go!

Found any good reasons for sharing Christ with friends, loved ones, neighbors, co-workers and yes, even complete strangers? I think the verses above could make a good case.

Dave