In Search of God’s Commandments...

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The first “commandments” that I came across in the Old Testament were the Ten Commandments (see Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5) that were given by God to Moses and the children of Israel. This was God’s covenant (conditions of relationship) with them (see Deuteronomy 4:13). After giving them a quick review, I searched further and found the commandments that Jesus spoke of to His Disciples.

In Mark 12:29-31 (NKJV) Jesus says, “The first of all the commandments is: 'Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." Jesus quoted these two commandments from the law that was given to Moses by God in the beginning (see Deuteronomy 6:4-9). The only change made by Jesus was that He added “all your mind” to the first commandment. In Matthew 22:40 (NKJV), the same quote is found, and Jesus says, “On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets." In John 14:15 (NKJV) Jesus says, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.”

So, according to Jesus, these two commandments are the greatest and they would support all the other commandments that were given by God. Jesus said that if I love Him, then my expression of love to Him would be in my obedience to God’s commandments (see 1 John 5:3). To really know Him, then I would have to obey, which would be an act of love. God gave us His commandments and His Son, Jesus, so that we would know how to love Him in a close and personal way!

Obedience to show love is truly a contradiction of what our society teaches us on love and relationships. No one wants to commit or submit to each other these days and they want an easy way out if it starts to get difficult. That is why people take the phrase “to obey” out of their wedding vows and people draw up prenuptial agreements! People don’t even take the time to really get to know each other before jumping into relationships. I know, because I have been guilty of this in the past! We see this example of self-centered relationship all of the time in the novels and magazines we read, and the movies and TV shows that we allow ourselves to watch. The scary thing is that our children are being taught the same things, but in an even more blatant and revealing way in this day and age.

(All scripture from The New King James Version. Copyright (c) 1982, by Thomas Nelson, Inc.)