God's ten commandments are guardrails for our lives

Thank you LORD for the Ten Commandments.  It is like your boundaries or guard rails for our lives.  We can see that those boundaries show your love for us, because it prevents us from being derailed, being lost and being condemned to sin and hell. Your commandments protect us from being trapped in sin.  LORD, please help me to show my love for You through my obedience to You.

Text:  Deuteronomy 5: 1- 22  New International Version

The Ten Commandments  

1 Moses summoned all Israel and said:

Hear, Israel, the decrees and laws I declare in your hearing today. Learn them and be sure to follow them. 

2 The Lord our God made a covenant with us at Horeb. 

3 It was not with our ancestors that the Lord made this covenant, but with us, with all of us who are alive here today. 

4 The Lord spoke to you face to face out of the fire on the mountain. 

5 (At that time I stood between the Lord and you to declare to you the word of the Lord, because you were afraid of the fire and did not go up the mountain.) And he said:

6 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

7 “You shall have no other gods before me.

8 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 

9 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 

10 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

11 “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

12 “Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the Lord your God has commanded you.

13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 

14 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns, so that your male and female servants may rest, as you do. 

15 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.

16 “Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

17 “You shall not murder.  

18 “You shall not commit adultery.

19 “You shall not steal.

20 “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

21 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. You shall not set your desire on your neighbor’s house or land, his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

22 These are the commandments the Lord proclaimed in a loud voice to your whole assembly there on the mountain from out of the fire, the cloud and the deep darkness; and he added nothing more. Then he wrote them on two stone tablets and gave them to me.

SCRIPTURE INSIGHT

Years ago, a train carrying 218 people derailed in northwestern Spain, killing 79 people and hospitalizing 66 more. The driver couldn’t explain the accident, but the video footage could and did. The train was going far too fast before it hit a deadly curve.  

The allowable speed limit had been created to protect everyone on board the train. Despite being a thirty-year veteran of Spain’s national rail company, however, the driver had for whatever reason ignored the speed boundary and many people lost their lives.

In Deuteronomy 5, Moses reviewed God’s original covenant boundaries for His people. Moses encouraged a new generation to regard God’s instruction as their own covenant with Him (v. 3), and then he restated the Ten Commandments (vv. 7–21). By repeating the commandments and drawing lessons from the previous generation’s disobedience, Moses invited the Israelites to be reverent, humble, and mindful of God’s faithfulness. God had made a way for His people so they wouldn’t wreck their lives or the lives of others. If they ignored His wisdom, they would do so at their own peril.

Today, as God leads us, let’s make all of Scripture our delight, counselor, and the guardrail for our lives. And as the Spirit guides us, we can keep on track within His wise protection and devote our lives wholeheartedly to Him.

By Marvin Williams

COMMENTARY:  The setting for the book of Deuteronomy occurs after the Israelites’ forty years of wilderness wanderings because of their unbelief (1:3; Numbers 14:33–34). 

Geographically, the place was the Plains of Moab (Deuteronomy 1:5; 29:1) on the edge of the promised land. The English title Deuteronomy literally means “second law.” The book includes the reiteration, exposition, and interpretation of the law (in Exodus and Leviticus) that was previously given to the Israelites. Deuteronomy is quoted in the New Testament more than eighty times.

by Arthur Jackson

FROM ME:  Thank you LORD for the Ten Commandments.  It is like your boundaries or guard rails for our lives.  We can see that those boundaries show your love for us, because it prevents us from being derailed, being lost and being condemned to sin and hell. Your commandments protect us from being trapped in sin.  LORD, please help me to show my love for You through my obedience to You.

Posted October 5, 2023