Pastor’s Word- The Positive Commandments
I had the privilege of teaching Children’s Church last week. I really like to get kids involved in the story, and one of my favorite ways to do that is to have them act it out. This time, we had God speaking to Moses on top of a mountain, while the people below made their own idols (not so much golden calves, but Play-Doh creations).
We learned all about the 10 commandments as God gave each one, and they were added to a tablet. Then, when Moses saw what everyone was doing, Moses threw down the tablet (gently) and all of the commandments came off the tablets. We gathered them together and put them in a box and made our own little ark of the covenant.
We spent some time remembering what the commandments were, and then we took some time to think of what some “positive” commandments might be since most of the commandments are in the form of “Don’t do this.” So what does that mean we should do? I would like to share their list with you-
- Trust God.
- Be nice.
- Share.
- Respect others.
- Hold the door for people when their hands are full.
- Pick up things for older people so they do not have to bend down.
- Help keep others alive and safe.
- Treat others the way you would want them to treat you.
- Listen to the people you should listen to (like parents, teachers, guardians, etc.)
- Be happy with what you have.
I love their list for several reasons. See how they took the commandment to not kill others and found responsibility in it to help keep others safe? See how they took the commandment not to make idols and turned into a commandment to trust God? See how they took the commandment to not covet, and they found the imperative to not look for satisfaction in obtaining more stuff? Do you see how they took their own gifts and talents (being able to get stuff on the ground easily and open doors) and know they should use those things to help other people?
I would suggest we all give this some thought. You can find the 10 commandments in Exodus 20. I would recommend we all take a moment and give some real thought to how the commandments not only tell us what we are prohibited from doing, but how the most gracious, holy reading of them would be to see how we might do the opposite to love God and neighbor.
Grace and Peace,
Rob
