The 10 Commandments

Today's scripture mastery is from Exodus 20:3-17  These verses contain the 10 commandments that God gave to Moses:

 3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

 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:

 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;

 6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

 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.

 8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

 9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:

 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:

 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.

 12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

 13 Thou shalt not kill.

 14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.

 15 Thou shalt not steal.

 16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

 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.

I have highlighted the commonly heard portions of the verses by making those portions bold.

The 10 commandments are still valid today.  God has not rescinded them.  Some of the commandments are still thought to be in force, but others are commonly ignored.  For example, most still believe that "Thou shalt not kill" is a commandment that we should all follow--however, what about "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain", or "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy"?  Or even "Thou shalt not commit adultery"? 

Satan is real.  He is doing his best to erode the commandments given to us by God.  Those commandments have been given to us to point us to happiness.  They have not been given as a way to hinder us, or restrict us, as many believe.

Because God is perfect, He knows what will make us happy.  He knows what the consequences are of disobeying those commandments--and he desires that we be happy.  If we follow the commandments, we have much greater freedom than if we don't.  Satan tries to make us think that when we follow the commandments that we are restricted and limited--but that is a lie.

Think about it.  When someone kills another, they immediately begin fearing that they will be caught.  They then have to be very careful in all they do--they can't go out freely anymore, they must go in to hiding.  And when they are caught, they are put in jail--and eventually, they may even be executed according to the law.  The same happens when we disobey any one of the commandments of God.  We are limited in our freedoms, and it is much more difficult to be happy when we disobey the commandments of God.

The prophet Lehi taught his son Jacob that God wants us to be happy (2 Nephi 2:25)  He said "...men are, that they might have joy."  That desire that God has for us to have joy is why he has given us the commandments.  Lehi also taught Jacob about Christ and how His atonement relates to the commandments that have been given: (2 Nephi 2:9-10)

 9 Wherefore, he is the firstfruits unto God, inasmuch as he shall make intercession for all the children of men; and they that believe in him shall be saved.

 10 And because of the intercession for all, all men come unto God; wherefore, they stand in the presence of him, to be judged of him according to the truth and holiness which is in him. Wherefore, the ends of the law which the Holy One hath given, unto the inflicting of the punishment which is affixed, which punishment that is affixed is in opposition to that of the happiness which is affixed, to answer the ends of the atonement—

Our Heavenly Father knew that we would not be perfect, and that we would not be able to keep all the commandments. He knew that we would sin.  That is why he has given to us His Son, Jesus Christ.  Let us do better in keeping the commandments (all of them--not just the ones that are convenient)  Let us repent when we fail to keep them, so that we can take advantage of the mercy and grace of Christ!  Let us be happy as God intends for us to be!