When I was in college I worked as a security guard. Being and student and living on campus also
meant that I got to be first responder for any kind of medical emergency. I received first aid training, a small kit
that I carried around with me, and a nifty card that certified that I was
trained to do first aid and CPR. (I
still get teased for the phrase we were required to say at any medical
emergency: “I’m medically trained. I can help.”)
I don’t remember a lot of the specific techniques and
procedures that I learned half-a-life-time ago.
But I remember there were lists that we memorized. “This is what you do. First, stay calm. Second, help everyone else remain calm. (That’s where, “I’m medically trained . . .
.” comes in; for a nineteen-year-old to inspire confidence in the victim and
those around.) Third, designate someone
to call 911. Fourth, assess the
situation. Is there a pulse? Is the victim breathing? Is there an injury? Etc.
Each piece of my first aid training was just the tip of
the iceberg. There was much more I could
have learned to be better prepared. With
enough study and practice I could have been a paramedic, or a nurse, or a
doctor. But what I was given was the
basics.
In Exodus 20, God is giving His people (you and me
included) the basics of how His people live.
We call these basics, The Ten Commandments. He’s not done giving commandments and laws
after He gives these ten. There are many
more things that He will discuss. But
these ten are the capstone, the entry point, the overarching theme under which
the rest find their place. This is a spot
in the scriptures that we could stop and spend months digging into the
significance of each phrase and spend a lifetime digging out beautiful gold
nuggets of God’s love and wisdom.
Would it be worth doing?
Certainly! There is much to learn
here of God’s desire for us. For our
purposes I will only recommend two resources, though. My goal is to read through the entire Bible
with you, and I’m already way behind. For now, I recommend Luther’s Small Catechism
(available at http://www.stpaulsashland.org/docs/lutheran/smallcatechism.pdf)
and his Large Catechism (available at http://www.oursavior-billings.org/index.php?page=lcatechism)
for excellent explanations on what the Commandments mean, and as a platform to
dive deeper into these important pieces of revelation.
The Commandments are meant to be remembered. They show us how God wants us to live. They
also display what sin is as we break them.
We do well to commit them to memory, treasure them in our hearts, and
use them often as we confess our sins to God and one another. We should return to them regularly so that we
do not forget them, like I’ve forgotten so much of my first aid training.
We have now exposed a problem. As we return to the Commandments we will find
that we break them, and that we are indeed guilty before the Lord. Interestingly, the last several verses of
this chapter are about building altars.
Altars are where sacrifices are made to atone for sin. Even as God gave the Commandments, He was
already thinking about how to give forgiveness to His people. And ultimately He was looking ahead to the
cross where Jesus would give His own life to pay for our sins.
Do not neglect the Ten Commandments. They are part of God’s will for us. And do not neglect Christ’s forgiveness
through the cross and empty tomb, for without them these Commandments only
accuse us.
Father, Thank You
for Your Law. Thank You for teaching me
Your ways. Forgive me for the times that
I break your Commandments and restore me to You through Jesus’ precious blood
shed for me. Amen.
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