As I See It…

Ten words. I offer you a challenge. Using only ten words, express the single most important spiritual creed for your life. Summarize what you think is the most important measure of godly living you believe that you or any other Christian should live by. It should include both your conviction of a proper relationship to God and a proper relationship to your fellow man.

In those ten words, you will establish the conviction of conduct that will guide you the whole of your life. It will honor the Lord for His holiness and it will demonstrate the basis of your holy living before others. It will be written in such a way that not only you but all of mankind in all generations from all cultures of all time will be able to understand and practice. It should be then, both personal and universal. In those ten words, you will establish the conviction of conduct that will guide you the whole of your life. It will honor the Lord for His holiness and it will demonstrate the basis of your holy living before others. It will be written in such a way that not only you but all of mankind in all generations from all cultures of all time will be able to understand and practice. It should be then, both personal and universal.

So, are you up for the challenge? If you need a little help, please consult Exodus 20. In that chapter, God has already given you His “ten words” for godly conduct. It is commonly referred to as the “Ten Commandments.” But immediately you object: “Wait a minute, those Ten Commandments” are more than ten words.” Well, yes and no! By God’s own reflection, a literal translation of the Hebrew text would refer to this Sinai revelation as the ten words.

The Lord will repeat this reference to this great passage a being ten words three times in the Pentateuch (Exodus 34:28; Deuteronomy 4:13; 10:4). In fact, the reason the “Ten Commandments” are called the Ten Commandments is because God gave them that “title.” Only, the translation of His phrase from the Hebrew text should read, Ten Words.

Again you object, “Hold on, since when does God expect each one of us to be Hebrew scholars?” He doesn’t. But, the Lord does want you to understand that the Hebrew language is above all else, functional. That is, it is a language that uses an economy of words to express its truth. Though its expression is not necessarily picturesque, Hebrew does give you vivid images and concise statements to teach its truth. After all, how difficult is it to understand, “Thou shall not…”?

But this list of ten commands is not just a negative litany. It starts with the foundational truth of all: I am the Lord your God… These ten words find their origin in the God of the universe. When you start with that perspective, the challenge is not so daunting.

Pastor Megilligan