Laws and the Perpetual Problem of Evil

We’re a nation of laws, maybe more than any other country. When we elect men and women to the House and Senate, we refer to them as ‘lawmakers,’ and that’s exactly what they do – make laws.

 

We have traffic laws, zoning laws, housing laws, parking laws, and education laws. Laws for banking, food and drugs, marriage and families, animals, noise, and advertising. Even laws for enforcing laws. We have criminal laws for dealing with people that insist on breaking the law. 

 

You’d think that with all our laws and regulations, society would be orderly and law-abiding. ‘Here are our expectations. Here are the boundaries. Now do as you’re told.’ That’s hardly the case. 

 

Despite laws against operating motor vehicles under the influence of intoxicating substances, almost every day we hear about people killed by vehicles steered by drunk drivers. Laws have banned texting while driving, but we still notice drivers with their eyes down, focusing on the latest message rather than what’s happening on the road right in front of them.

Child abuse. Domestic abuse. Burglary. Robbery. Murder. Scamming. Lying. We have countless laws concerning these and other forms of bad behavior, but they persist.

 

Whenever I hear someone saying something like, “We need stricter gun laws,” I wonder about the copious laws we already have regulating the use of guns. The problem is the folks who pay no attention to them. The late Charlton Heston, when he was president of NRA, observed: “There is no such thing as a good gun. There is no such thing as a bad gun. A gun in the hands of a bad man is a very dangerous thing. A gun in the hands of a good person is no danger to anyone except the bad guys.”

 

If we want to consider the power of laws to control behavior, all we need to do is look to ancient Israel. Besides the Ten Commandments (listed in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5), God gave His chosen people many other laws. Reading through the Old Testament, it seems the Israelites delighted in how many of the laws they could ignore and how frequently they did.

 

Even “heroes” of the Old Testament, people like Jacob, Moses, Samson, King David, King Solomon and Hezekiah, had an amazing propensity for disobedience. They knew the laws yet defied them in many ways.

 

This isn’t to say we shouldn’t have laws. They’re important and we need them. Without speed limits on our roads, some drivers would exhibit reckless disregard for the safety of others and themselves. There’s a reason we have laws against taking merchandise from stores without paying for them. But no matter how stringent, those determined to break laws will continue doing so.

 

The problem isn’t that laws aren’t clear enough, or we don’t have enough of them. It’s more basic than that. The problem is the perpetual presence of evil, as it’s been from the beginning of history. Adam and Eve were given one simple law, “…you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die” (Genesis 2:17).

 

It wasn’t that there were too many laws to keep up with. They had one law, just one. God said they could eat of any other tree in the Garden of Eden. So, what did they do? They ate fruit from the one that was off limits.

 

Since then, every individual born into this world has been doing what seems to come naturally: Rebelling against God, His laws, precepts and statutes. “But we’re only human!” is the excuse. In one sense that’s true. We read in Romans 3:23, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Perhaps there’s a spiritual component to our genetic makeup and we’re behaving according to a ‘sin gene.’

 

In the words of the old hymn, “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing,” we’re “prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love.” This wandering is a result of the perplexing appeal of evil. As has been stated more than once, “If sin wasn’t fun, we wouldn’t want to do it.”

 

How do we respond? Forget about making laws? Resign ourselves to people just doing what they’re going to do? From what I hear, that’s kind of the conclusion some states have made. But there’s a better answer.

 

In Jesus Christ, who called Himself “the way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6), we find the capacity to turn away from evil, to say no to sin. When we become born again as new creations in Christ (John 3:3, 2 Corinthians 5:17) we step outside the “I’m only human” box. The Lord not only gives us new life spiritually but also the desire to pursue right and reject wrong.

 

The apostle Paul expressed it this way in Romans 8:2-4, “…through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering…that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.”

 

This isn’t saying we should cease making laws since our “sinful nature” doesn’t like obeying them. But it also doesn’t say the only reason for pointing people to Jesus is to get them “saved” and assured of going to heaven when they die. He wants us to become living, breathing, law-keeping examples of what a life transformed by the power of Christ looks like. 

 

Other stanzas from “Come Thou Fount…” say it well:

“Jesus sought me when a stranger,
  Wand’ring from the face of God;
He, to save my soul from danger,
  Interposed His precious blood….

 

Take my heart, oh, take and seal it
  With Thy Spirit from above.
Rescued thus from sin and danger,
  Purchased by the Savior’s blood,
May I walk on earth a stranger,  

As a son and heir of God.” 

Want to Be Great at Something? Can You Spare 10,000 Hours?

Rules. Most of us don’t like them, except when we can use them to our advantage. I’m thinking of the cynic who defined the Golden Rule as “he who has the gold rules.” He had a point – doesn’t it seem the folks with lots of money are wielding the greatest influence these days? 

But getting back to rules, we see evidence at how much people abhor rules (or laws) almost every day. The persons who not only defy the highway speed limit, but also weave recklessly from lane to lane just to get a few feet ahead of the next driver. I observed several of those just the other day. (No, I wasn’t one of them.)

 

Kids are notorious for disliking rules. Tell them something reasonable, like ‘Don’t touch the stove,’ and that only makes the stove top touch even more enticing. Rules like, ‘You have to clean up your room before you watch TV’ or, “You can’t have dessert until you finish your dinner’ are sure to ignite their rebellious streak. No parent in the world ever said, “I’m going to raise a little rule-breaker,” but that’s what typically happens.

 

We might blame such behavior on childish innocence or naivete, but as we grow up, we maintain our propensity for breaking rules. Often, with experience we get more skilled at concealing our ‘un-ruley’ behavior.

 

My typing skills have progressed a long
way since the days of 'a-s-d-f-space.'

This thing about rules goes all the way back to the Old Testament, when God was giving the no-longer-enslaved Israelites literal marching orders. When the Lord presented the Ten Commandments to Moses, as recounted in Exodus 20, the Israelites initially welcomed them and promised to keep them. ‘Sure, Yahweh, whatever You say!’

However, they soon found the commandments – only 10 – much too restrictive. So, in very short order they succeeded in breaking every one of those divine rules. Not once or twice, but so many times they lost count. You could say the remainder of the Old Testament is the story of God’s chosen people’s insistence on enthusiastically breaking all of His rules. 

 

Then, after a prophetic silence of hundreds of years, Jesus Christ arrived to become the ultimate remedy for chronic rules-breaking. At one point, someone asked Jesus to identify the greatest commandment. Perhaps thinking about how 10 commandments had proved too burdensome for most folks, He boiled them down to two: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it. ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:37-40).

 

Pretty simple, huh? Love God with everything we’ve got, and love others just the way we would want them to love and treat us. What’s so difficult about that? I suppose it gets back to our propensity for breaking rules – we can’t even consistently keep two of them.

 

Years ago, I discovered an interesting rule that God didn’t originate, at least not explicitly. In his book, Outliers, author Malcolm Gladwell explored what he termed the “10-000-Hour Rule.” He cited neurologist Daniel Levitin who concluded after exhaustive research that, “The emerging picture…is that ten thousand hours of practice is required to achieve the level of mastery associated with being a world-class expert – in anything.”

 

Levitin said this applied to any discipline: “Composers, basketball players, fiction writers, ice skaters, concert pianists, chess players, master criminals, and what have you, this number comes up again and again.” His studies showed that amount of time spent in practice and preparation didn’t guarantee success, but “no one has yet found a case in which true world-class expertise was accomplished in less time.”

 

I’ve thought about this a lot. When I took personal typing as an elective class during my junior year of high school, I had no idea I’d spend my entire professional career with my fingers flying around a keyboard. I’ve far exceeded the 10,000-hour rule – to the point where if you were to ask me where a specific key is located, I couldn’t tell you. But thanks to countless hours of practice and muscle memory, my fingers know.

 

That’s why accomplished pianists devote so much time to practicing the scales, and outstanding basketball players spend so many hours practicing free throws. Aware of it or not, they were applying the 10,000-hour rule.

 

But how does that relate to things like the Ten Commandments and growing spiritually? I believe there’s a direct correlation.

 

More than 40 years ago, when I first became involved in parachurch ministry, I’d attend Bible studies and marvel when the “veterans” would spontaneously refer to relevant Scripture passages. ‘How do they do that?’ I wondered. 

 

Then I determined to read the Bible daily, even setting goals to read through the entire Word of God over the course of a year. At the same time, I resolved not only to read and study the Scriptures but also to memorize specific verses, meditate on them, strive to apply them, and endeavor to share them with others whenever opportunities presented themselves.

 

Now I understand how those godly business and professional leaders of years past could be so adept at knowing and teaching the Scriptures. Intentional or not, they’d been applying the 10,000-hour rule to their spiritual lives.

 

In effect, Deuteronomy 6:6-9 affirms this principle. Moses told the Israelites he was leading, “These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts…. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up…. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”

 

If one were to practice this faithfully over the course of a lifetime, the 10,000-hour rule would be long surpassed – and spiritual maturity would be a very likely byproduct. Are you willing to put in the time?

The Command That’s Both Old and New

Many of us are at least somewhat familiar with the Ten Commandments. There was a time when most people could recite them almost by rote, but in these “post-Christian” days, that’s no longer the case. In reading the Bible we discover other commandments, but when asked, Jesus boiled them all down to two: 

“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:37-40).

But did you know there’s a commandment that’s both old and new?

 

Years ago, the keynote speaker at a national Christian conference stated the best way to gain a good understanding of a book of the Bible is to read it repeatedly, “until its message becomes a part of you.” He suggested starting with the New Testament book of 1 John, since it’s short, consisting of five chapters. “If you read it through every day for a month, you’ll be amazed at the impact it has on you,” he said.

 

I decided to give it a try. Every day, I dutifully read all of 1 John’s five chapters and learned a lot. However, two verses didn’t seem to make sense. They were 1 John 2:7-8, “Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in Him [Jesus Christ] and you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.”

 

Why did this trouble me? Because as a writer, I’m conscious of how ideas connect and am quick to notice when a train of thought seems to jump the tracks. Verse 7 said, “I am not writing you a new command but an old one….” Yet the very next verse stated, “Yet I am writing you a new command….” Knowing the author of this book was the apostle John, after reading and re-reading this several times I wanted to ask, ‘Come on, John! Is it old or is it new?’ I couldn’t get past the seeming contradiction.

 

As it happened – not a coincidence, I’m certain – I had been trying to memorize two other verses that describe what the Bible says about followers of Christ. Galatians 2:20 says, “I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”

 

The other verse was 2 Corinthians 5:17, which declares, “Therefore anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come!”

 

Being relatively new in my faith at the time, these verses perplexed me because they seemed to say that if I was “in Christ” and had been “born again,” then I was a new person. It said I’d been given a new life. Yet in many ways I seemed like the same messed-up guy I had always been, struggling with the same issues and temptations as before. How could I be a “new creation”? How could Christ be living in me if I continued doing the same old stuff?

 

This led to be a turning point in my spiritual journey, an “Aha” moment. One weekend I was assigned to cover and report on a Christian businessmen’s event in another city. As it happened – again, I know it wasn’t coincidence – I stayed in the home of a man who felt his mission in life was to help young believers understand who they really are in Christ, rather than who they think or feel that they are.

 

It would take too long to detail our discussions that weekend. Suffice it to say I discovered I had been trying to live the so-called “Christian life” in my own strength. When I failed, I thought I should just try harder. That isn’t what the Scriptures teach, however. 

 

At a particularly teachable moment, Jesus used the object lesson of a grapevine to admonish His disciples, “If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). He didn’t say “you can’t do a lot” or “you can’t do nearly as much.” He said, “apart from Me you can do nothing.”

 

At another time Jesus told His followers, “A new command I give to you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:34-35). There’s that phrase, “a new command” (or commandment). Since the Jews had already received the commandment to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18), why was He calling it a “new command”?

 

This was my “Aha”: Living the Christian life as God intends isn’t difficult; it’s impossible – in our own strength. This is why Jesus said, “apart from Me you can do nothing.” Later the apostle Paul would echo that principle by writing, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).

 

Attempting to live a new spiritual life with old fleshly habits and weaknesses is an exercise in futility. To be a “new creation in Christ” means having the life of Jesus in us through His Spirit. Appropriating the power of the Holy Spirit enables us to do what we can’t do ourselves, no matter how good our intentions are and how hard we try.

 

Summing it all up, John the apostle wasn’t contradicting himself when he wrote, “I am not writing you a new command but an old one,” and in the next verse stating, “Yet I am writing you a new command.” The old, unchanging command is for us to love others as Jesus would. Except our imperfect, sinful selves can’t. We might not even want to. But through the power of the “new command,” we can – appropriating the power and motivation of Christ’s Spirit at work in us. This understanding, at least for me, has been truly transformational!

Knowing God’s Will – Not As Mysterious As It Seems?

For anyone who’s ever aspired to be a Christian conference speaker, there’s one sure-fire way to pack the room with eager listeners. Call it “How to Know the Will of God.” That’s a subject that “inquiring minds” always want to know more about.

 

God’s will: Is it a mystery? A conundrum? A dilemma that no one has discovered how to discern? Trying to find a needle in a haystack?

The issue comes up often enough. If we’re young and desirous of following the Lord, we wonder what His will is regarding things like which college to attend, what to major in, who to marry, and what job to take. As we get older, we ponder God’s will regarding other issues: Should we have children – and if so, how many, and how soon should we start? What kind of house should we buy, and where? What make and model car does He want me to have? What church should I attend? Should I change careers?

 

The list of questions about God’s will is beyond number. As are the sermons given and books written about the topic. Maybe that’s because everyone has a perspective on how to know God’s will – or maybe because it’s a way of attracting folks to the Sunday morning service or selling books.

 

I’m of the opinion that the will of God isn’t as mysterious or unfathomable as we might think. Because if we consistently read and study His Word, we’ll discover that through it God reveals His will very clearly. Take the Ten Commandments, for example. If we wonder whether it’s okay to cuss someone who’s made us mad, it’s right there – “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God” (Exodus 20:7). If we wonder, “What if I don’t use His name?”, elsewhere we find this clarification: “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen” (Ephesians 4:29). 

 

We don’t have to agonize over what God’s will is concerning things like killing people, thievery or lying: “You shall not murder…. You shall not steal. You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor” (Exodus 20:13,15,16).

 

Even if people find themselves in a struggling marriage, or suddenly suspect that someone they’re not married to is their real “soulmate,” they don’t have to pray, asking, “Lord, what is Your will here?” Because He’s already told us: “You shall not commit adultery” (Exodus 20:14). This command doesn’t offer any exceptions; there’s no fine print to address extenuating circumstances.

 

What if your neighbor buys a new car, with all the very latest features, and you’re still driving around your 12-year-old, non-electric clunker – shouldn’t it be okay to feel somewhat envious, even jealous? God’s will on this is clear as well: “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife…or anything that belongs to your neighbor” (Exodus 20:17).

 

I know this seems to be oversimplifying, but in the Scriptures, God has set forth principles and truths that cast light on even the darkest dilemmas. They are woven throughout the Bible, often in the stories of His people. Again and again, we see many of them suffering the consequences of unchecked anger, deceit, greed, hatred, lust and virtually every other human vice. 

 

Years ago, before I became a follower of Jesus, I fell victim to the easy accessibility of consumer credit. Whenever I had a down moment, I’d try to cheer myself up by buying something I wanted. Not something I needed – just something I wanted. Like a new shirt, a record album, even tropical fish. All the while, I was singing, “I owe, I owe, it’s deep in debt I go.” 

 

Only later did I discover God had given a stern warning against this practice of willingly going into debt: “The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender” (Proverbs 22:7). Indeed, I had become servant to the lender – several, in fact – and it took years for my wife and me to extricate ourselves from my self-imposed slavery which began before we got married. We did so by following biblical principles for handling money.

 

I could cite many other examples, but hopefully by now you’ve gotten the point. Just as we use an owner’s manual to instruct us on how to operate a computer, appliance, car, power tool or some other helpful device, God in similar fashion has given us His Word to guide us in how to live – how to know and abide by His good and perfect will.

 

Sometimes discerning His will is extremely simple: “Should I buy the red dress – or the blue one?” Often His answer is, “I don’t care. You pick.” Other times the decision is much more complex, but His principles are there, readily available to point us in the right direction. 

 

And we don’t have just the Scriptures, although they are a lot more than we often realize. God also gives us His Spirit to give us wisdom, insight and understanding. Luke 11:13 says, “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” And to this 1 Thessalonians 4:8 adds, “Therefore, anyone who rejects this instruction does not reject a human being but God, the very God who gives you His Holy Spirit.”

 

So, how can we know God’s will? It’s right there in His Word, interpreted by His Spirit, and if we are fortunate enough to have godly friends, the Lord can speak to us through them as well. It’s a matter of staying closely connected to Him. As Jesus told His disciples, “If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you” (John 15:7).

Warnings: Unwanted, But Necessary

How do you react when you receive a warning? One way is to continue doing what you’re doing, reasoning, “Well, that doesn’t apply to me.” Another way – especially when it comes to dire weather predictions – is to think, “Yeah, right. That’s what they said last time, and nothing happened. That’s why they predict 80% chance of snow. Because that means 20% chance that it won’t snow, so they’re right either way.” 

 

Then there’s the more stubborn approach to being warned: “Hey, you’re not the boss of me! You can’t tell me what to do!” We might actually say this, or at least think it, determined to disregard what we’ve been told to do.

 

There’s the story of the motorist in an unfamiliar part of the country who drove past a person holding a sign that said, “The End is Near!” The driver smugly looked at the person, glanced at the warning, and proceeded, thinking, “Just another of those religious nuts!” Sadly, he didn’t realize until too late that the bridge on the road ahead was out.

 

Most of us don’t like warnings, whatever they happen to be. Because we like our freedom, our autonomy. But even though they’re not wanted, warnings are usually necessary – and often given with our best interests in mind.

 

While the COVID pandemic was in full force, we received lots of warnings: “Wear a mask.” “Get the vaccine.” “Wear two masks.” “Get the boosters.” “Social distance.” “Stay home.” Perhaps the most literal warning was, “Avoid people like the plague.”

 

At first, most of us readily complied, glad to help in “flattening the curve.” What’s a couple weeks of sacrifice, temporarily accepting the “new normal,” right? But when the weeks dragged into a month, then months, a year and more, those dire warnings grew old and tiresome. Some of us probably thought, “Okay, I heeded your warnings. Where did that get us?”

 

Much of the time, warnings we receive are for our good. The parent warns the child, “Hold my hand in the parking lot. Cars are coming,” or, “Don’t run into the street without stopping and looking both ways.” Can you remember your mom or dad warning, “Don’t touch the stove”? They didn’t say that to restrict our freedom – they were concerned about our safety.

 

As we read through the Bible, we find it filled with warnings. The first warning God ever gave is recorded in Genesis 2:16, when He told Adam and Eve, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”

 

That seemed simple enough. Any tree in the garden of Eden was available to them, except for one. Sadly, for all of humankind – like the toddler told not to touch the hot stove but does it anyway – they decided to sample the forbidden fruit. Until then the first couple had not known about evil, but suddenly they did. The result was a divine eviction notice, along a succession of tragic consequences that continues to this day.

 

We could regard the Ten Commandments not only as rules given by God for us to follow, but also as warnings – guidelines for living happy, fulfilling lives. They begin with one that all of us, in one way or another, have violated: “You shall have no other gods before Me” (Exodus 20:3). We might not have physical idols displayed prominently in our homes or workplaces, but at times we all have “worshipped” other gods, whether they be spouse, children, the pursuit of success, possessions, even our favorite sports teams. (I know, I might have just quit preaching and started meddling.)

 

Why is this a warning? Not just because God doesn’t want to share His glory and adoration with anyone or anything else. It’s also because every other “god,” at its best, is flawed and certain to fail us.

 

The fourth commandment, “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy” (Exodus 20:8), was given not only to commemorate on a weekly basis God’s work of creation and that He rested on the seventh day. It's also because better than anyone, He knows how much we, with our limited physical and mental capacities, also need rest and times to become refreshed. Stress, exhaustion and illness are common byproducts of people refusing to hit the “pause” button in their everyday schedules.

 

One of my favorite books in the Bible, Proverbs, is filled with warnings from our Creator. For instance, Proverbs 21:23 offers this advice: “He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from calamity.” Have you ever said something, whether in anger or out of impulse, that you immediately regretted, only to realize the damage had already been done?

 

Speaking of anger, we’ve all experienced the impact of that destructive emotion. One way to avoid falling prey to it, either as perpetrator or victim, is not to hang around angry people. As Proverbs 22:24-25 warns, “Do not make friends with a hot-tempered man, do not associate with one easily angered, or you may learn his ways and get yourself ensnared.”

This is one of the things I value from reading God’s Word, which I regard as His “owner’s manual.” He made us, He knows who we are – our frailties, faults and flaws – and has graciously provided us with a comprehensive guidebook for successful living. We ignore it to our peril. Proceed at your own risk. Consider yourself warned! 

‘Tis Always the Season for Sowing and Reaping

Here many of us are in the dead of winter, gazing at barren tree limbs, dormant flower beds and maybe even a coating of snow on the ground. Because of this, most of us probably aren’t giving a lot of thought to things like planting flowers or vegetable gardens. But one doesn’t need a green thumb to be actively engaged in the process of sowing and reaping year-round.

Recently I was reminded of this while reading a familiar quote tagged at the end of a friend’s email. It read:

Sow a thought, and you reap an act.

Sow an act, and you reap a habit.

Sow a habit, and you reap a character.

Sow a character, and you reap a destiny.

 

This isn’t talking about little seeds and different forms of vegetation; it concerns something much more important. It’s about the little things we do each day which don’t seem to matter, but if cultivated, repeated and nurtured over time, make a dramatic difference in the course of one’s life.

One example many of us can easily relate to is snacking at night. My wife and I will be watching TV, only an hour or so after eating a hearty dinner, and I’m thinking, ‘What can I eat?’ It’s often because I’m seeing folks on the TV screen eating something, or I’ve just viewed a commercial about potato chips or some fast-food restaurant. My stomach is still full, but suddenly, I’m “hungry.”

 

If this were just a one-time or occasional occurrence, it wouldn’t be a problem. But it happens night after night, same scenario. I had the thought initially, then I acted on it. When I acted on it again, it started to turn into a habit. If the habit becomes a dominating part of life, it affects my character. Then, potentially, it can affect my destiny.

 

We could apply this behavioral progression to many things, ranging from spending practices to alcoholism to viewing salacious content on the computer. Name the controlling behavior and you can bet it started as a simple thought, advanced into an act, turned into a habit, slowly shaped a character and then, perhaps, transformed into a destiny. From a negative perspective, that’s how addictions are created.

 

“You reap what you sow,” it’s said. But in truth, we reap much more than we sow. Whoever planted a kernel of corn with the intention of reaping just one more kernel of corn? Or placed a tomato plant in a garden with hopes of it producing a single tomato?

 

The key, it seems, is not to steer clear of the sowing and reaping principle, but to be cautious about what it is we’re sowing. This is one reason Proverbs 4:23 warns us to, “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.” What are your affections? What are those things that dominate your thoughts and attention?

 

In Proverbs we find several passages that deal with sexual temptation, with good reason. While they’re directed toward younger men, these warnings apply equally to men and women. After observing that, “The lips of an adulteress drip honey and her speech is smoother than oil; but in the end she is bitter as gall, sharp as a double-edged sword,” the writer sternly warns, “Keep to a path far from her, do not go near the door of her house…. At the end of your life you will groan, when your flesh and body are spent” (Proverbs 5:3-11). A grim image, for sure.

 

The Ten Commandments are viewed by some as a series of do’s and don’ts, rules and regulations handed down by a spoilsport deity. But in reality, they’re guidelines for successful, joyous living. They prescribe for us where we should direct our hearts – and where we shouldn’t. If we ever wonder, “How should I guard my heart?” the commandments provide answers.

 

As recorded in Exodus 20:1-17, commandments 1-4 address our relationship with God, making Him the foremost priority of our lives: Have no gods other than the one true God. Don’t worship idols. Don’t misuse or profane God’s name. Designate a day for rest and renewal, just as He rested after His six days of creation.

 

The remaining commandments concern our relationships with others, including our parents, neighbors and strangers. The sixth commandment instructs “Do not murder,” a teaching Jesus later clarified in His “sermon on the mount” to include harboring angry, destructive thoughts toward others. “You have heard that it was said to people long ago, ‘Do not murder,’ and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment. But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment…” (Matthew 5:21-26).

 

Commandments 7-10 address adultery, stealing, lying, and coveting the possessions of another. In each case, these are actions that most likely don’t arise from random impulses, but have followed the pattern of sowing first a thought, then an act, then a habit, which shaped a character, and perhaps led to the formation of a destiny.

 

So, while gazing from the warmth of our homes at a cold, bleak outdoors, it would be wise to remember that we’re still cultivating, sowing and reaping. Are we guarding our hearts by following Jesus’ admonition to, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength… [and] love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:30-31), or are we sowing negative actions and habits that will result in regretful consequences?

The Genius of the Ten Commandments

Sometimes the best advice, the wisest counsel we can receive is what we have already been given. “Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth” has always been one of my favorites. “Look before you leap” is another all-time goodie. And I’ve grown to appreciate the adage, “If you can’t be happy where you are, you certainly can’t be happy where you’re not.” But over the years I’ve become convinced the best advice by far can be found in that good old book called the Bible.

 

Occasionally I’ll hear someone make a comment like, “The Bible is an outdated, irrelevant religious book.” Or they might call it, “just a collection of stories and fables.” At those times, it’s all I can do to keep from bursting into hysterical laughter. Because I’ve learned – via much experience, trial and error on my part – that if there ever was anything written with timeless significance, importance, usefulness, and truth, it’s the Bible.

 

I could cite countless examples, but there’s no need to go any further than the Ten Commandments, found in Exodus 20:1-17, and (just in case we missed it) repeated in Deuteronomy 5:1-21. Ten simple mandates which, if adhered to, could resolve and remedy much of what ails our once proud land – and our personal lives.

 

Going through each one would require far more words than allotted for this post, but let’s briefly consider some of the commandments Moses carried down from Mount Sinai. 

 

The first three, “…You shall have no other gods before me,” “you shall not make any graven images…and worship them,” and “you shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain…” (Exodus 20:2-6), can be summarized by six simple words: “I am God – and you’re not.” It was author Anne Lamott who wrote, “One of the biggest differences between you and God is that He never thinks He is you.”

 

Commandment No. 4 deals with that pesky thing called the Sabbath. “How dare God tell me how to use my Sunday?!” some protest. Or, if you’re Jewish or a Seventh-Day Adventist, that would be Saturday. But Jesus clarified that when He declared, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27). This, in fact, is one of the most practical commandments. Everything needs rest – animals, fields, and human beings. In effect, God is telling us, “I’m giving you this command to rest, because you need it.”

 

The commandments about murder, adultery, stealing and lying seem self-explanatory, but every day we see reports and read stories about people flagrantly violating each. Perhaps more than ever before. This is one reason it would be a good reason to boldly and ostentatiously display the Ten Commandments publicly again. Since easily we forget so easily.

In past posts I’ve written in regard to the commandment that instructs us to honor our fathers and mothers, which also seems to have gone out of fashion with our “woke” and “progressive” society. But what about the 10^th commandment, the one that says we shouldn’t covet – or envy, or be jealous of – other people’s stuff.

 

This seems to be one of the foundational principles behind the growing popularity of socialism: Folks want more, and they want others to have less. We want what others have got, even if they worked hard and long to earn it – and we have been disinclined to do the same. We want the rewards without the sweat equity required.

 

As a result, there’s misery all around. We have people agonizing because they don’t have what others have – wealth, nice houses, expensive cars, the latest and greatest gizmos and gimmicks. And we’ve got the people who have those things, desperately afraid of losing what they’ve acquired.

 

When I read the Ten Commandments, whether it’s No. 1 or No. 10, it’s like God telling me, “If you want to be truly happy, experiencing a meaningful, fulfilling life, do what I say. And don’t do what I tell you not to do.” It’s simple, really. But then, why choose simple when we can make things difficult, right?

Replacing 10 Lines With 17,000 Pages?

Whenever we are confronted by a complex, convoluted problem, there’s always a danger in trying to offer simplistic solutions for them. At least solutions that seem simplistic. But recently I came across a profound quote that made me think, “That pretty much sums it up!”

Have you ever heard of Ravi Zacharias? If you haven’t, you ought to get acquainted with his work – his messages and books. Zacharias is an Indian-born, Canadian-American Christian apologist, a wise thinker and defender of biblical teachings. I’ve never met the man, but have discovered that listening to one of his messages for even a few minutes will provide you with more wisdom than you could glean from watching a month of commentaries on CNN, MSNBC and Fox News, 24/7 .

You can Google him and find dozens of his quotations, but here’s just one example – the one that speaks to the conundrum we’re facing today as a society. He said: “The reason we have 17,000 pages in our law books is because we cannot follow 10 lines in a tablet made of stone.”

The stone tablet he’s referring to is the one God gave to Moses bearing the Ten Commandments. I have no idea where Zacharias got the number 17,000, since it seems more laws are being written and enacted every day. There have to be more pages than that. But the point is clear: When the Lord gave us the Ten Commandments, He was saying in essence, “Keep it simple, stupid!”

Like the ancient Pharisees, who took great pride in inventing new laws and adding onto old ones, we seem to have laws governing just about everything. But they don’t keep us from behaving badly. I’m not sure there’s any regulation about blowing bubbles with bubble gum, but I suspect now that I’ve mentioned it, someone will write one.

The sad reality is, if our lives depended upon being able to recite the Ten Commandments – regardless of which version of the Bible we chose – most of us would composing our final farewells. Including many who profess to be followers of Jesus.

For a refresher, here they are, straight from Exodus 20 (and Deuteronomy 5):

1. “You shall have no other gods before Me.”
2. “You shall not make for yourself an idol (graven image)….”
3. “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain (misuse His name)….”
4. “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy….”
5. “Honor your father and your mother….”
6. “You shall not commit murder.”
7. “You shall not commit adultery.”
8. “You shall not steal.”
9. “You shall not bear false witness (give false testimony) against your neighbor.”
10. “You shall not covet…anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

Actually, God made the commandments even simpler. When asked what was the greatest or most important commandment, Jesus replied, "“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:30-31). In other words, that’s all God asks of us. If we can keep just those two laws, no sweat!

The problems with this – and the reason we have many thousands of pages of laws – are obvious. Simple as they are, the Ten Commandments and the two greatest commandments cut against the grain of sinful humanity. For instance, there are so many other gods to choose from. Not only the imaginary ones for whom idols and statues are made, but also things like money, our careers, our children, our favorite sports teams – even ourselves. 

Sadly, in an age of increasingly fractured families and irresponsible lifestyles, too many kids don’t even know their fathers to honor them. As for the “false witness” part, it’s become the operational standard for too many professions. And coveting, it seems have become the national pastime. We could continue going down the list.

So, nope. Let’s just keep churning out more laws, ones that people will continue to ignore or abuse. What’s a few thousand more we can disregard? Why try to do it God’s way when we can do it our way? 

What Are Laws Good For, Anyway?

We’re a nation of laws. There are laws for almost everything. Consider, for instance, laws just for travel: from speed limits on our streets and highways to jaywalking; to the use of smartphones to talk and text while driving; to operating a vehicle while impaired, to where we can park and for how long. We have laws for traveling by air, water, even by bicycle, scooter and skateboard. 

We also have laws concerning the food we eat; things we drink; medicines we take; stuff to smoke if we wish to do so. There are laws about buying, selling and trading. Copyright and trademark laws for what we can copy or replicate. We’ve got laws to regulate hiring, firing, employment and compensation, vacations and leaves of absence. Laws tell us how to enforce contractual agreements.

Then we have the basic laws for common sense things, like not killing or injuring people, stealing things that aren’t ours, telling the truth (or not), borrowing, renting and leasing. When people are accused of breaking one or more laws, we even have laws directing how we’re to prosecute alleged lawbreakers. And laws for what to do with them if convicted. When someone says, “There ought to be a law,” lawmakers eagerly respond, “Okay!”

But what good are laws anyway? Speed limits, clearly visible on most roadways, don’t stop people from speeding. Every state has laws against driving under the influence, but some folks do it anyway. We have laws against shoplifting, but it still happens. Laws against murder, robbery, kidnapping, spousal abuse and every other wrong thing we can imagine have been enacted; yet those heinous crimes continue. 

So again – what good are laws? We find an answer in the book of Romans. Speaking of the Ten Commandments as well as all other laws, the apostle Paul writes, “for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account where there is no law” (Romans 5:13). He’s saying even before formal laws were established, people were doing wrong – and they knew they were doing wrong.

Consider this analogy: A heavily traveled road in our part of town has a legal, posted speed limit of 40 miles per hour. Signs are visible at various intervals, and if a law enforcement officer catches you driving above that limit, you risk receiving a citation (or worse, depending on how fast you’re traveling).

One might say that if signs weren’t present and a speed limit hadn’t been set, we could drive the road 100 miles an hour or faster. But that’s not true. With the high density of traffic, along with the concentration of businesses and homes, it doesn’t take genius to realize driving 100 mph there is neither safe nor wise.

In this case the law serves as a reminder that driving well in excess of 40 mph puts ourselves and everyone around us at risk. Yes, had the laws not been created and signs posted, we couldn’t be prosecuted for breaking them. But common sense would still tell us, “Hey, stupid, it’s really not safe driving this fast.”

When God handed the Ten Commandments to Moses on Mt. Sinai – in the process originating the phrase, “Take two tablets and call Me in the morning” – the Lord was putting into writing what deep down mankind already knew: We shouldn’t murder. We shouldn’t steal. We shouldn’t be dishonest. We shouldn’t have sexual relations with someone we’re not married to. We shouldn’t covet or be envious of other people’s stuff. 

Paul stated it this way: “…when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness…” (Romans 2:14-15). Somehow it seems, from the moment of birth or even before, the understanding of what’s right and what’s wrong has already been impressed indelibly on our hearts.

The other benefit of God’s laws, from a spiritual perspective, is they point us to Him. The first four Commandments presented in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5, for example, speak directly of our relationship with the Lord: We’re not to worship other gods; not to create and worship idols of false gods; not to use God’s name in a disrespectful or blasphemous way; and we’re to set apart a Sabbath day for worship and refraining from our usual work.

Knowing God’s laws also enables us to arrive at a profound realization. Being born with what we might term the “sin gene,” a natural inclination toward rebellion against the Lord, we discover it’s impossible to “clean up our own act” and make ourselves right with Him. No matter how hard we try, we always fall short – missing the mark of God’s perfect standard.

I can identify with Paul when he wrote, “So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law, but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within [me]. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:21-24).

Almost immediately, however, Paul tells us “who” can rescue him – and us: “Thanks be to God – through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:25). Elsewhere he writes that we have a choice; we don’t have to break the law, just as we don’t have to break the speed limit. “…count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus…. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace” (Romans 6:11-14).

No matter how many laws are written and enforced, amended and reinforced, they can’t force us to abide by the law if we choose not to do so. But through God’s provision, we not only recognize Him as the ultimate Lawgiver, but He also provides us the capacity for willingly and joyfully keeping His laws.

It’s Time for Being Strong and Courageous

Over my years of reading the Bible I have learned a lot of things, but one of the most important is this: When God repeats something several times, pay attention. He wants to make a point, and doesn’t want us to miss it. For example: 

In giving the Ten Commandments, the Lord starts eight of them with “You shall not….” (Or, if you prefer KJV phraseology, “Thou shalt not….") It’s evident these are things He doesn’t want us to do. Also, reading the classic passage that conveys how God intended for us to relate to one another, we’re told repeatedly what love is – or at least what it’s supposed to be. “Love it patient, love is kind…always protects, always trusts always hopes, always perseveres…” (1 Corinthians 13:4-13). This repetition isn’t just for clever literary effect.

So recently as I read the conclusion of the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy and the start of the next one, Joshua, I took note when I saw one particular admonition being repeated: “Be strong and courageous.” 

As Moses was preparing to pass the leadership to Joshua, he knew the current residents of the Promised Land – Canaan – didn’t figure to be sending out welcoming committees. No one was displaying “Can’t we all just get along” bumper stickers on their chariots. So Moses told his people, “The Lord your God himself will cross over ahead of you. He will destroy these nations before you and you will take possession of their land” (Deuteronomy 31:3). 

This ragtag horde of Israelites had gone through a lot, and God had come through for them in every crisis. But time and again they had proved themselves short on faith and long on disobedience. So crossing the Jordan River didn’t mean they’d be home free. What Moses did next was instructive, not only for the people of Israel but also for those who seek to follow the Lord today.

He exhorted them, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you” (Deuteronomy 31:6). Moses hardly took a breath before repeating it to the man God had chosen as his successor: “Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the presence of all Israel, ‘Be strong and courageous, for you must go with this people into the land that the Lord swore to their forefathers to give them…. The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged’” (Deuteronomy 31:7-8).

So what does this have to do with us? The ancient Israelites lived in a very different time, of course, but their circumstances were perilous and tumultuous, not unlike what we’re facing today. Joseph had the Egyptians to deal with, David had Goliath, and Daniel had the Babylonians. In the 21^stcentury, we have our own “Egyptians,” Goliaths and “Babylonians.”

Violence seems to dominate the newscasts just about every night. The other night, I counted four rapid-fire news stories about local tragedies before the news anchors let the meteorologist give a brief weather report. Wars big and small rage around the globe. Protests and unrest are exploding on every continent. The foundations of our nation seem under siege. Beliefs and principles many of us hold dear are being assailed. These days it seems up has become down; down is up.

How should we react? We could take lessons from nature and, like an ostrich, stick our heads into the sand. Or retreat into our shells like a turtle and hope all the bad stuff goes away. 

A better option would be to take our cues from the Scriptures, muster up our courage and face the hostile world around us in ways Jesus would. With love and compassion, but also with unwavering courage. 

Long before He took on human form in the tiny town of Bethlehem, Jesus received this prophetic description: "He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem” (Isaiah 53:3). Talk about not receiving a friendly welcome!

Then in Hebrews 4:15 we read, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who was tempted in every way that we are, yet was without sin." Any time we want to complain, “But Lord, You just don’t understand,” He can reply, “Oh, yes, I definitely do.”

When terrifying circumstances of life press in on us, or we find ourselves perplexed by the chaos that threatens to overwhelm our society, we can do as Moses instructed his fellow Israelites, “be strong and courageous.” Because that’s exactly what Jesus did, and He promised, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).