This morning I was led to the 10 commandments. I am sure that most of us have heard of them. They are the edicts from God to the Israelites, and they are certainly for us to use today. I am sure that most of us know them as more along the lines of what not to do, as in don’t murder, don’t commit adultery, don’t steal, and the like.

What I think gets missed is the what to dos that are of more importance. In fact, when we do them, the others fall in line inherently. #1 Commandment – Put God first in all that you do. I know, that may not be the words, but to me that is what it means. The #4 Commandment – Keep the Sabbath Day Holy, and the #5 Commandment – Honor Your Father and Your Mother. These two are also there for us to start with in our lives. When we work through those three, the others will fall in line and are more easily adhered.

I am, as a sinner, going to struggle each day in going against God. As I go into the world, I am inundated with all that is against me, and when I am not careful, I will fall in the traps of being against my mission for God. I have to remember my kingdom purpose and lead a life that is in line with that purpose. In order to get there, I have to start with committing to God and doing that which is in line with His commandments. I have to start putting Him first.

“³You shall have no other gods before me.” – Exodus 20:3 (ESV)

There is the place to start for me and for you. Starting with God is what will put me on track for Him each day. I have the responsibility to put God first in my life. That does not mean just going to church on the first day of the week, Sunday. I have to open each day with Him and use that as a springboard into the rest of my day and week and month. I have to fully commit to doing His will at every turn. When doing so, the rest of the 10 commandments are easy to keep and abide.

When you look at your approach to each day, where are you starting? Are you working to do go works in hopes of honoring God? What if you were to commit to God and allow that commitment to drive the rest of the day, week, month, and your life?

“¹⁰I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity.” – Philippians 4:10 (ESV)

Here Paul is letting the Philippians know that he is okay. He is thanking them for their renewed interest in his well being. He acknowledges their concern for him and points out that since he was not with them, they had minimal opportunity to assist.

Isn’t that what I and we all experience. We may be concerned, but feel somewhat helpless as there may be little we can do in the moment since we are not there specifically to provide. We find ourselves in a situation where the opportunity to help does not match our concern for the need. I know that I will find myself in the position of settling on the idea that it is out of my hands and, there is nothing I can do.

But wait, we can always help. We have to look for and make the opportunity appear.

“¹⁶Even in Thessalonica you sent me help for my needs once and again. ¹⁷Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit. ¹⁸I have received full payment, and more. I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God.” – Philippians 4:16-18 (ESV)

The Philippians did not do nothing. They made opportunities to help. They sent supplies and gifts to/for Paul, regardless of where he was. They found a way to give back. Shouldn’t we all do the same. I should not be giving up, I should be ramping up and making help possible. I should “just do it” as the famous slogan from Nike says. I have to create the chance to impact change and assist. I have to find the ones that are set up and join with them to do the work.

It is my responsibility to help and provide. I cannot take defeat and the attitude that all is lost. I have to look for and make opportunities to do the work and seize those chances to make a difference.

When have you given up thinking that the chance to assist was not available or had passed? Are you accepting the idea that you are not able to help? What if you made the opportunity and then did all you could to seize it in the interest of helping out?

The devil lives in the darkness and when we are in the darkness, that is where he will proceed to take his opportunities to influence me. Darkness in this sense is referring to evil. I want to be clear that I am not suggesting that I am evil, but I will say again that I am a sinner and will do evil from time to time in the form of sinning. That sinning comes from the place where I am not focused on the good that is God. I have to remember that where there is light, darkness is cannot be.

“⁵This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” – 1 John 1:5 (ESV)

You can see in the above verse that where God is, evil cannot exist. I have to remember to fill myself with light and let it shine.

“⁸for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light” – Ephesians 5:8 (ESV)

Now, walking in the light, as I mentioned, does not mean that I am without sin. I will still find myself in the darkness from time to time as I will become angry and upset with situations. When I am in the darkness the devil will take that opportunity to attack and lean on me to sin and commit evil acts. I am human and these times are going to manifest. However, it is my duty as a follower of Christ to avoid those times as much as possible and be aware of them to get out of them as soon as possible and lean of Christ to get me out with a focus on Him and the light He gives.

“³¹Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.” – Ephesians 4:31 (ESV)

“²⁶Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, ²⁷and give no opportunity to the devil.” – Ephesian 4:26-27 (ESV)

I look at the above verses and see how I should approach anger and evilness. I have to let it go. I cannot hold onto the anger and bitterness. First, it is not healthy, and more importantly, it is not being the example of Christ. Anger that is justified is certainly okay to have, harboring that anger in a situation or about another is not the thing of Christians. I have to get past the anger and move to the place of love and forgiveness as the example of Christ.

“³²Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” – Ephesians 4:32 (ESV)

When I am able to move back into the light and be the example of Christ’s love, I will remove opportunities from the devil in his quest to influence me. Yes, the devil will still be looking for his chances, but when I am in the light of Christ, those chances are few and far between.

When have you found yourself in the darkness and influence of the devil? Are you finding yourself in those situations often? What if you were to lean on the light of Christ and His light, where would the devil find his opportunities in your life?

“¹⁰So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” – Galatians 6:10 (ESV)

“Do good to everyone”, that is what I am seeing here in this verse. Take every opportunity, not only to serve, as I have written before, but to do good.

We are in a world today where everyone seems to be looking out for themselves and working for that self-aggrandizement. I see it at every turn, whether in the media, entertainment, sports, schools, the grocery store, and even on the highway. Everyone is about themselves in their thinking. Whereas there is some sense of caring for oneself needed, the extent of only thinking of oneself is not the idea.

Doing good is good. I should be a beacon of right in the world and others should see that I am not against others. I should be seen picking up trash, conserving energy, recycling, and doing charity work. It is worth it for others to see and use me as an example. But, doing good to others and everyone is much more impactful. I am not just here to do good, but to bring joy to others. I should be seen picking up those that fall, leading others to Christ, carrying groceries, praying with strangers, and allowing others to go before me. That is being good to everyone as opposed to just being good.

It is not about me and I have to remember that. I am here to do God’s work in the world for which I am a part. I am here to do good and to do good to everyone at every opportunity.

What opportunities have you to do good? Are you working to do good and do good to everyone or is there a sense of self-aggrandizement in your work? What if we focused on doing good to everyone, not just on doing good?

As a Christian, I have been set free from the law of man. I am no longer ultimately bound by man’s law. I live and abide by God’s law. That is a tricky subject when there is no explanation or understanding. I am ultimately bound by the law of God. When everything is in alignment that means that I will abide by man’s law as well. But that is the key, when everything is in alignment. When they are not aligned, I should be concerned with abiding in God’s law even to the extent of going against man’s law.

The freedom I have gained in God’s law, allows me to follow the tasks that God has for me more freely as I am not bound to adhering to the law of man to accomplish that which God has for me. The thing is that the tasks God has for me are to serve and not to rule and therefore there is little chance of me going against the law of man.

“¹³For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not user your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” – Galatians 5:13 (ESV)

And there it is. The edict from Paul. Serve one another with every opportunity presented. My freedom has been provided by God with my salvation and that freedom is for His glory and should be used in service of Him and all that we come in contact. I am tasked with taking all opportunities and using them to serve as opposed to being served. I am here to give, not to take. I am to seek His glory and not my own.

“²⁶It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, ²⁷and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, ²⁸even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” – Matthew 20:26-28 (ESV)

I have been set free by Christ and have a responsibility to Him through all that I do. As Jesus said in verse 28 above, “even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve”, I have the responsibility to serve as opposed to being served. The greatest will serve and the least will be served. I have to take every opportunity to serve and when I am serving, I am bringing glory to God and completing the tasks He has for me.

What service opportunities are you finding in your day to day? Are you looking for the chance to be of service to others or those opportunities to be served by others? What if we took every opportunity to serve for the glory of God as opposed to for our own glory?

I have said a number of times here with my thoughts that I am a sinner. I know it and must do what I can to avoid sin as much as possible, although that will be impossible as noted in the previous sentence, I am a sinner.

I know that there are times when I am unaware of my sin. Think of it from the idea of this analogy, speeding while driving. By and large, I am aware of the speed limits when driving. There are times however that the limit changes and the sign for the change was knocked down and I was unable to see it. There have also bee times when I was distracted by conversation that I completely missed the change or posted limit for speed. Yes, in those times, I am still responsible for the action of breaking the law. Just because I was “unaware” that does not grant me a pass with regard to keeping the law of driving.

Now, let me look at sin. There are times that I am unaware of the sin I am committing. Whether it be due to the sign being knocked down, or my being distracted, there are times that I will sin against God unaware at the time. It is later that I realize that I have sinned, when it is pointed out. It is when I am aware that the sin is made visible to me. Just like speeding, the fact that I was unaware does not mean I am not responsible for the sin.

“⁸But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead.” – Romans 7:8 (ESV)

Paul writes that he was not aware of his covetousness until it was pointed out as such. Adam and Eve where without sin until they ate fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Once they ate of the fruit, they were made aware of their sin and it became a burden unto them. In my life the burden of sin is there once it is made aware to me. I am still responsible to doing good in the name of the Lord, and should repent for all of my sin. There are times when I will not be fully aware of my sin and for those times my repentance is for those sins in general and that God would make me aware so that I have the opportunity to avoid.

Satan is going to take every opportunity to separate me from God. Those opportunities are when I will sin. It is my responsibility to repent for those sins and ask that God present them to me so that I will have the chance to avoid them going forward. I should do my work for God and He will provide the protection against the sins that Satan will present to me. I am responsible for knowing of Satan’s plans and know and take those, and all opportunities to do for God and bring glory to Him.

When have you been presented with actions that may not have been in line with bringing glory to God? Are you even knowing that you have sinned? What if you were to be aware and take every opportunity to repent and know so that you are able to avoid those sins and bring glory to God?

One of my favorite sayings is “Focus on Getting it Right, Not Just Getting it Done”. I use this in my personal life as well as my professional life. James writes about this very topic and how it applies to our life in Christ.

“¹⁷So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.” – James 4:17 (ESV)

Okay, maybe it is not exact in the topic, but I was certainly reminded of my saying this morning as I read the passage. We are to do what is right and when we do not, it is considered a sin.

We are to do what is right, when we know what is right. When we do not do what is right, then we are disobedient to God and that is where the sin comes in. Sin is that which goes against God. Sometimes we know when we are sinning and other times we do not.

My goal is to do what is right in the eyes of God. As noted above, sometimes I know what is right and other times I do not. Either way, for me it is a sin, and all sin is equally against God, the difference is in the approach I take with regard to that sin. When I don’t know that I am sinning, my repentance is for the sins I have committed that I am unaware. Avoiding those sins are difficult as they may have been in the moment and I may not have even known as there was no visible impact to others. The sins where I know what is right and don’t do it, those are fully mine to own and my repentance for those should be specific to the sin itself.

I am not perfect and will make mistakes and sin, however it is my responsibility to know what is right and take that action for Christ, regardless of the consequences. I know that there is pressure to follow along with society in the decisions that we make, and in some cases there may be pressure to follow the law of man. The thing is, society and man are not who I am living for. I live for Jesus and as such, my responsibility is to do what is right in the eyes of God and when that goes against the eyes of man, I will live with the consequences of man to know that I am doing right in the eyes of God.

What does right look like to you? Are you in the mode to please society and do what is right in the eyes of man? What if you just focused on getting it right by God and allow Him to take care of the rest?

In 2016 at church, we were studying Hebrews and especially that “Jesus is Better”. This morning was brought back to Hebrews in my study of the word “right” and have again been reminded that “Jesus is Better”.

“¹³And to which of the angels has he ever said, “Sit at my right had until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”? – Hebrews 1:13 (ESV)

I have the following written in my bible as a reference to the above verse and Jesus being better than angels: “His Role is Better”. Jesus is indeed better. He is greater than any other aside from God. Jesus has been elevated to the most honorable of places, the right hand of God.

I have a responsibility to know that Jesus is better. I have to be careful that I do not try and elevate myself to the same position. I only use Jesus as my example of how to be and will never, I repeat, never be able to reach His status. Jesus is great in all senses of the word and I have to be one to acknowledge Him as such.

How do you see Jesus? Are you looking at Him as though He is just another man and you have the chance to be just like Him? What if you were to acknowledge Jesus’ greatness and that He is better than all?

I see too often where I have spent too much effort on something in this world only to be disappointed in the results. I don’t mean that the results were not rewarding, only that the results were only rewarding in the moment and were not sustaining over time.

“¹If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. ²Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” – Colossians 3:1-2 (ESV)

And there is where I am going wrong. It is not that the effort was not worthwhile, it was that the effort was not on those things that are sustaining over time. I should be doing the work for Christ and with Him in mind at all times. When I do, I will find myself in a position of satisfaction over time as the reward I am seeking is yet to come and not being presented in the moment.

I have a belief that rewarding someone for the work they have done is great and appreciated in the moment. But, I have too often been rewarded for my work with a meal. Whereas that meal is good and may not be something that I would necessarily do for myself, it is only good for the moment and forgotten the next day. The reward of something tangible that I can look at periodically and use more frequently is much more rewarding. Such as a shirt with a logo, a watch, a desktop clock, or some other item that is in view and useful over time is much more rewarding over time.

In my life with Christ, it is the reward in heaven that keeps me moving. My effort is expended on achieving the reward daily, as I will not receive it until I have reached heaven. I am therefore working continuously for that reward and will not stop expending effort until I have reached the reward. I will say that there are milestones here in this world that are realized, and I am excited to reach them, however I do not stop working until I have reached the reward promised me in heaven.

When you are expending effort, where are you looking for the reward to be given? Are you working for the goal above? What if you were doing all for the glory of God and your reward in heaven as opposed to the temporary satisfaction in this world?

“¹Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ²’Honor your father and mother’ (this is the first commandment with a promise),” – Ephesians 6:1-2 (ESV)

There are different things happening in these verses, obedience and honor. As noted in the commentary of my NIV Bible, “To obey means to do as one is tole; to honor means to respect and love.” So as a child of my earthy parents, I am to obey them and do as I am told while I am under their care, and I am to honor them with love and respect for the rest of my life.

This obedience and honor does not just go for my earthly parents. I am to obey and honor God as well. I am to obey Him by completing the tasks He has for me in this world, and I am to honor Him with love and respect continuously, regardless of where I am or the circumstances I may find myself in.

Wherever I am in life, I have a responsibility to do right by my parents, both earthly and heavenly. I am their child and it is right for me to obey and honor them. As an adult, my obedience to my earthly parents has run its course and I am now in the position of honoring them. I am to love and respect them for the work they did as guides and guardians of me while I was in their care and return that care to them for as long as they are with me. As a child of God, I am still in the position of obedient child and must do as told/instructed to bring glory to Him. I must also love and respect Him for as long as we are together, either here in this world or in heaven.

What did obedience and what does honor look like for you with regard to your earthly parents? What about your heavenly Father? What if you were to obey and honor for the rest of the time you are with both?