When Your Work Is Done
The heritage of Christian workers never ends, though their work sometimes must.
Commandment 10—Be Content
A store owner in Maine stubbornly refused to carry a new product. “You must remember, young feller,” said the storekeeper to the salesman, “that in this part of the country every want ain’t a need.”
Commandment 9—Tell The Truth
How prone we are to lying! With a stroke of exaggeration here, an omitted detail there, or a misleading silence we distort the truth. Yet truth is the foundation and superstructure of all relationships. Remove the girders of truth, and society crumbles in on itself. This moral absolute is so self-evident that even criminals punish their own who lie to them.
Commandment 8—Keep Your Hands Off
Tom and Pauline Nichter were a homeless, jobless couple who had been living in their car or with relatives for months. So the wallet they found containing $100 bills looked like a windfall. But they gave it all back to the tourist who lost it. “We could have used that money,” said Pauline. “But we weren’t brought up that way, and we didn’t want our son brought up that way.”
Commandment 7—Keep Yourself Pure
The Bible is up-to-date on sexual matters. Long ago, God warned against adultery and fornication. In effect, He said, “Say no!” Now, in the 20th century with the awful threat of AIDS, many lawmakers, educators, and doctors are agreeing with the Almighty.
Commandment 6—Value Human Life
The Jews clearly understood that the sixth commandment refers to murder—the malicious taking of human life. It doesn’t forbid governments to use the death penalty or to wage war. This commandment deals solely with private morality.
Commandment 5—Honor Your Parents
It was a sad, unsigned letter from an elderly mother. “I have an only son,” she wrote, “who does all sorts of things for other people but hates to do anything for me. He rarely visits me although I live only 8 minutes away. He seldom even phones.”
Commandment 4—Take A Day To Rest
An important part of the fourth commandment is God’s instruction to work (Ex. 20:9), a point often missed. Legitimate work glorifies God and has eternal significance (Eph. 6:5-8) if done in balance with appropriate rest. That’s the underlying truth of this commandment.
Commandment 3—Respect God’s Name
The third commandment was taken so seriously by Israel that at one time the scribes wouldn’t even write the name Yahweh (Jehovah) until they had first taken a bath and changed their clothes. Then after they had written it, they would take another bath and change their clothes again.
