A Description; Not a Prescription
Based on Exodus 20:1-17
I think I was about forty-five and I went to the doctor and was diagnosed with high cholesterol. The doctor said that I would need a prescription for a daily pill to control my high cholesterol. I didn’t want to take a pill. So, I asked if there were other options. A nurse came in to meet with me and described how my lifestyle would need to change. The changes included: losing some weight, adjusting my diet, less salt, and changing my stress level. I ended up with a pill. Fast forward about eight years, a job change, and a significant change in my activity level, along with about a twenty-pound weight loss and I don’t need to take the pill anymore. At my last physical, my cholesterol level is still good.
Very often in life, we want a prescription, a magic pill to make some malady better and to be clear for some things that is the best option. There are other times that a description of better choices can lead to a good result as well. It may be more difficult and yet more rewarding. I know I feel better twenty pounds lighter!
When we look at the Ten Commandments, very often we see them as some kind of magic pill, a prescription that will make everything better. We toss them around and spout them aloud, as they fit our narrative at the moment. We find them posted in lots of places, as a reminder to take our pills.
What if we were to look at the commandments as a description of a healthier lifestyle. The commandments can provide a better understanding of our relationship with the Creator, and a healthier relationship with our neighbors. It takes some work. You have to get up every day and eat better, exercise and engage in other healthy lifestyle choices. Obedience to the prescription: Well, I didn’t take the Lord’s name in vain today – yeah me. I didn’t covet my neighbor’s stuff today – yeah me. It isn’t enough.
Beloved, if we want to have a healthier life, a more wholesome life together, if we are truly seeking wholeness as the children of God, the Ten Commandments are wonderful description of what is possible.
The Ten Commandments may not be a magical cure-all, but they still do have power for us today. It is the power to build up the people of God and remind them to love God and their neighbor.
Now imagine that you have your annual physical and God describes what a healthier life looks like. It’s up to you, to get up each day, to live in each moment, and help build up the community of God’s people.
Just wandering in the word,
Dave