Bridget A. Thomas
Every day is a gift!
The Ten Commandments
1 And God spoke all these words, saying:
2 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
3 You shall have no other gods before Me.
4 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;
5 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,
6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
7 You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.
8 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates.
11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
12 Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
13 You shall not murder.
14 You shall not commit adultery.
15 You shall not steal.
16 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
17 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.
Exodus 20:1-17 NKJV
Years ago the Ten Commandments used to be posted in our schools and other public places. Not anymore. I guess some find them offensive. It’s no wonder our world has become more violent and reckless.
Today I would like to discuss the Ten Commandments. I won’t go over each one in detail, because you can read the verses above for yourself. But I will share some themes I see when I read them.
(Side note – I originally had the KJV above, but changed it to the NKJV because of the way the KJV says donkey, if you catch my drift. 😅)
Put God First
A major theme to me in the Ten Commandments is to put God first. The first commandment says, “You shall have no other gods before Me.” When we put God first in our lives and in our hearts, following the other commandments will feel natural to us. Keeping our focus on the Lord, we will want to do what is right, we will want to please Him, and we won’t want to grieve Him.
Beyond the well-known Ten Commandments, there are actually hundreds of other commandments in the Old Testament. In the New Testament when Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was, Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40)
Putting God first means loving Him and loving others. When we love God, our heart’s desire will be to follow His commandments. And when we love others, we won’t want to steal from them, bear false witness against them, and so on.
As Christians, we have the gift of the Holy Spirit. He helps our hearts to know what is right and what is wrong. If we are tempted to sin against God, we will feel the Holy Spirit convict us. The Holy Spirit can keep us out of a lot of trouble, if we listen to Him.
“The first commandment is first for a reason. God must be first in everything we do, because intimacy with God is his highest priority for our life. We are to honor God above everything else that exists, treat his name reverently and set him as our ultimate authority—as the only One with the right to influence and teach us.” – Charles Stanley
Hidden Idols
Only a few chapters after where we read the Ten Commandments, in Exodus 32 the Israelites were tired of waiting for Moses to come down from the mountain and worshiped a calf made from their gold jewelry. They broke the second commandment to “not make for yourself a carved image.” The New Living Translation puts it this way, “You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind…”
We might think that this commandment doesn’t pertain to us. After all, we are not worshipping things like golden calves. However, idols can come in many forms. Is there anything that we put above God? Is there anything that takes our time and attention from Him? Is there anything that we think we can’t live without?
Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts. – 1 John 5:21
When we have a relationship with Jesus, He is everything to us. We can turn to Him to fill the empty places in our hearts.
Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” – John 6:35
God is Our Provider
Some of these commandments, such as “You shall not steal” and “You shall not covet,” remind me that God is our provider. If we are tempted to steal, are we afraid of doing without something? Are we afraid God won’t provide what we need? If we covet something, could it be that we have deep rooted feelings of lack?
When we put God first place, we will learn to trust Him. And this helps us to believe that God will provide for us. We might not get everything we want in life, but God will supply what we need.
I believe not keeping the Sabbath also speaks to this. When we work an extra day, we have a fear that we can’t get everything accomplished. Handing a day over to God shows Him that we trust Him to handle the things that we cannot.
It’s similar to tithing, in my opinion. When we give the Lord a portion of our income, we are showing Him our trust. Somehow the ninety percent we have goes miraculously further than if we kept one hundred percent. And likewise, when we rest for one day, God can help us to get much more accomplished on the other six days.
“O LORD, You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You maintain my lot.” – Psalm 16:5 NKJV
In our modern day, there is still much we can learn from the Ten Commandments. I’m thankful that God loved His people enough to help guide them down a righteous path. Today, thousands of years later, we still have the same God who wants to guide us. What a gift!
Before I close, I would like to wish my parents a very Happy Birthday! (Yes, they share the same birthday!) I pray that God’s goodness and blessings are poured out in their lives. 🥰🎁🌟🥳♥️
Thank you for stopping by and reading. I hope you have a blessed weekend!
© 2018-2024 Bridget A. Thomas. All rights reserved.
Bridget A. Thomas 
Happy birthday to your parents! 🎉And thank you for sharing about the Ten Commandments. I know God has challenged me to trust Him and keep Sunday as a day of rest and in doing so, I am able to still get everything accomplished. Plus, it refreshes me for the week ahead. It was hard to take the step of faith in the beginning because I had things I wanted to get done. But obedience in this area has really paid off. Have a blessed weekend, Bridget.
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Thank you for the birthday wishes! ♥️ And thank you for sharing your story. I love hearing that. God always knows what we need, and He will provide when we obey with faith. And in the long run, as you said, it pays off! What a gift. 🎁 I hope you have a blessed weekend too, Dawn!
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Putting God first should be easy and so isn’t. I repeatedly have to remind myself “God’s plans work; my plans don’t.” Blessedly, God is patient. I am learning.
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I agree! I need to remind myself often too. I am easily sidetracked by what I want or feel. I’m so glad He never gives up on us 🙌
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Amen!
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“When we put God first place, we will learn to trust Him.”
Andy B
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I’m so thankful for our awesome God and how He helps us to find that trust in Him! 🙌
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Putting God first, although I know it, not always easy to do. I can relate to taking the Sunday as a day of rest. I have to even now remind myself to not plan and allow it to be a day of rest.
Happy Birthday to your parents 😊💙.
Have a wonderful weekend my friend 💐
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I know what you mean. Our focus is easily taken to the things that are right in front of us. Thankfully, the Lord is always there to help us and turn our focus on Him. Thank you for the birthday wishes. I hope you are having a wonderful weekend too! 🤗🤍
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Happy birthday to your parents!! 🎉🥳
I like how the commandments fit into these three categories – Put God First, Hidden Idols and God is Our Provider. As you said, all the other commandments He has for us are easier when we simply put God first – above all other things and consider His will over our own.
Thanks for sharing! Hope you have a great weekend, Bridget! 🤗
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Thank you for the birthday wishes! Something I’ve been trying to pray each morning is that I will keep me focus on Jesus – every moment of every day. I need the reminder often! I hope you have a great weekend too! ♥️🤗
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Amen- Put God First. if we put God first, all else will fall into place
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So true! It’s something I need to remind myself of often! ♥️🤗
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A Happy Birthday shout-out to your parents!!
Great little study on the Ten Commandments, love it for accountability!
And what I love the most though, like you mentioned, as that these commandments are just as timely and applicable nowadays as they were thousands of years ago.
Great post, Bridget!!
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Thank you for the birthday wishes!
So true about these commandments still being relevant today. Too many people in our world think nothing of breaking these. How tragic that is. I’m so thankful the Lord is always there to guide us down the right path, when we surrender to Him. 🙌♥️🙏
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Me too!! And may we never tire of sharing Him with those who don’t yet know Him as Lord and Savior.
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Amen 🙌🙏
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Such common sense in those Ten. My favorite is the new commandment from Jesus on Love. That seems to cover all the rest.
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So true! Walking in love does simplify everything else. ♥️
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Imagine: God’s highest priority for our lives is intimacy with him! People get excited about shaking hands with a celebrity; the King of the universe wants to be in a heart-to-heart relationship with each of us. Lord, I praise you for your compassion and generosity. May I honor you with my obedience!
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Amen! Beautifully said! 🤗♥️
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God first seems to easy to follow yet it is so against the grain in today’s society. Yet deep down we know it’s the only way which will complete us.
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So true. Our world and the enemy will try to pull us away. I love the way you put that – “it’s the only way which will complete us.” ♥️
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Well said. Thank you for sharing.
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Thank you, Michelle. I’m so grateful for the Word of God and how we can easily access it and learn from it. ♥️♥️
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I appreciate how you linked our day of rest and our tithing to lack of trust in God Who provides. I guess most of sin boils down to lack of trust, or unbelief – that God is really Who He says He is, and that He will bless our obedience. But the day of rest and tithing are two fairly common ways of disobedience because folks don’t seem to think it’s much of a sin. How can we be faithful in much, if we are unfaithful in little? (And disobedience in anything is never little.)
Thank you for a thought-provoking post.
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Such a great point! Learning to trust and surrender in every area of our lives is important. It’s not always easy. But when we remember God’s character and how faithful and loving He is, it helps. Thank you for sharing your thoughts!
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