One day in seven, yet on all those days, on each of those seven days - ALL the commandments must be followed. The fourth commandment tells us to set aside the seventh day as our Sabbath. Can we keep the fourth commandment on those other six days? I cannot actually keep the Sabbath on any other day than the commandment requires but… on the other six days I can REMEMBER to keep the Sabbath day that will be coming. Not a single day should go by that we aren't keeping all of God's commandments and that includes the fourth commandment. The fifth commandment calls for us to honor our mother and father- so does this exempt the parentless from having to keep that commandment? It's impossible for them to, right? Or is there such a thing as a 'heart keeping' of ALL the commandments that we don't want to really think too much about? People can come up with plenty of loopholes. Others can say they honor the eighth commandment and do not steal- and yet perhaps they've not had an opportunity to steal- are they still keeping that commandment without the opportunity to break it?
Keeping the heart of the law given to us- is obeying it in all things, it's a constant acceptance of the moral laws of God and an understanding that when we LOVE God we are keeping His commandments. When we love our fellow man - every single one of them even those we believe we have a right to despise the most- then we are keeping God's commandments.
Jesus' life was a living testament to how we are to live- us following in His footsteps.
Do the standards you possess on a daily basis reveal your position as a follower of Christ? Can a person assess your six day weekly life outside of the Sabbath keeping and know you are Christ's?
We are to love God and have no other God's before Him. People can't necessarily see that love of God. They might just think you're a good person. We aren't to have any idols, we aren't to worship statues of stone or otherwise, so people can't see us bowed down before a giant statue of God outside our house- it can't exist. Not taking God's name in vain, not using God's name senselessly isn't something a person will necessarily notice in you- it's not a prerequisite to conversations to do so. Honoring your mom and dad, well people generally are nice to their parents and honoring them isn't a strictly Jesus ordered command- even atheists will honor their parents. Not murdering, stealing, committing adultery- well most people do NOT broadcast this sort of behavior, right? We expect people in our society not to kill or steal, it doesn't mean they are Christ's because they choose not to kill, steal, or commit adultery. The same goes for lying and coveting, even pagan practitioners will say lying and coveting are wrong. All these commandments kept are not necessarily kept because a person loves God. However… choosing to set aside a whole DAY for God, the day HE chose for us to set aside for HIM, this can't be interpreted any other way can it? Can an atheists set aside a day of worship for GOD? No, not and remain an atheist. Can a pagan set aside a day to worship GOD and NOT appear to be God's? No. To set aside a day to worship GOD is to reveal your belief in GOD for ALL to see. I'm not talking setting aside an hour or two for God on a day He hasn't chosen, but setting aside an entire day to worship God, the day God chose, the seventh in our weekly count of seven days in a week.
This is something we need to contemplate a bit- our love of God in keeping HIS laws of love.
We keep them always, we don't set aside certain commandments on certain days. We don't set aside keeping the fourth commandment on the first through sixth days of the week. We live our lives towards keeping that day of worship, that commandment is always a part of our lives all seven days a week just as all the others should be.
Exo 20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Exo 20:4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
Exo 20:5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
Exo 20:6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
Exo 20:7 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
Exo 20:8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Exo 20:9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
Exo 20:10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
Exo 20:11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
Exo 20:12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
Exo 20:13 Thou shalt not kill.
Exo 20:14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Exo 20:15 Thou shalt not steal.
Exo 20:16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
Exo 20:17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.
Mat 5:18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
Praise God for His perfection, for His righteousness, for His grace, for His mercy, for His love in all these things.
Forgive us undeserving ones Lord, please, forgive us.
In You Lord!
Amen
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