GOD'S MANDATE

 “Therefore, love the Lord your God and always keep His mandate and His statutes, ordinances, and commands”. Deuteronomy 11:1

From the beginning of creation, God created man like his own image to fulfill his purpose on earth, to be fruitful and multiply in every aspects of life. But through Moses, he gave his mandate [commandments] which serves as guide to live that purposeful life he wants men to live.

Although the children of Israel were the first to have the first copy of the mandate but it is still very much alive and available for us, Christians to follow all the days of our lives in order to enjoy every promises God has given our fore fathers.

As a means to remind you what the mandate entails, I will be discussing afresh, the ten commandment as given by the creator of heaven and earth because deviating from these commandments is what has led to chaos and instability of the world. Many has added more to the mandate to suit their own lifestyle while many has changed the context of the mandate in order to look upright when in truth, they are falling off the path God laid down for every ,man to follow. The book of Joshua 1:8 (This book of law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success) has stated exactly what the Lord wants us to do with the mandate he gave so as to have the great success we crave for.

As written in Exodus 20:1-17, this is a reminder of how the Lord commanded us, Christians to live our lives.

• You shall have no other gods before Me: In my previous write-up (Our God is a jealous God), I have discussed at length how you can unconsciously create other gods which will give God the impression that he is no longer needed in your life at that moment. In no circumstance should you be carried away by other things you love because unconsciously, you will start to place them above God in your heart of which I used material things as an example.

• You shall not make for yourself any carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow to them nor serve them. For I , the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments: I have always wondered what would have happened if God made himself visible to the Israelites, they were so much in love with carved images that am sure if God had shown himself to them, they would have carved his image to always worship and would not obey any leader directing them to God and that name stiff-necked people God called them would have remained their name because they would remain rigid till eternity, serving images and disrespecting God’s presence. Therefore, to make the statement in the new testaments to remain valid for you, that the proverb (visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third generation) should no longer be used in Israel, never make for yourself any carved image to represent God. Respect and believe in the power of our unseen God who is always making his works visible to mankind in various dimensions.

• You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain: One thing that is so common among people nowadays is swearing on God name for every little thing they do both in truth and in lies. The Bible says ‘let your Yes be Yes and No be No’. Therefore, this is one of God’s mandates to hold seriously because taking God’s name in vain will bring you nothing but severe punishment. Why not stay truthful?

• Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is them and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it: Sabbath day shouldn’t be for family gatherings when you all ought to be in the presence of God, acknowledging him for how he walked with you throughout the week. We, Christians of nowadays have turn a lot of things upside down unconsciously because we feel God is not that harsh. Yes, God is not harsh but he gave us commandments to respect and follow it. What if God decided to bless everyone according to how well they obey his commands or how many Sabbaths you keep with sincerity without be forced to keep it or without seeing it as a ritual you have to perform but for the love you have for God, how many people will continue to enjoy his blessings?

• Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you: There is a place of blessings from God but also, there is place of abundant blessings from honoring your parents. According to a story I heard from someone from the other religion, they believed that Pharaoh enjoyed so much pardon from God and God wasn’t quick to destroy him because he so much honored his mother. Wow! God is indeed our protector but how many more protections would you enjoy in abundance if you diligently honor your parents?

• You shall not murder: Murdering someone is not only by using a knife or piercing through someone’s heart with a dagger, is not until you strangle life out a person before you kill them. Your choice of words can kill, your bad actions can strangle a person, backbiting and blaspheming kills faster than using a gun on someone. If you truly want to enjoy what God has in store for you, desist from saying hurtful words. You never can tell what you will say that will save a person from either committing suicide or going on with it. A lot of depressed people are walking on the street but they are so good in masking it up with a smile. So, if you don’t have anything that can help someone whatsoever, keep your hurtful comments to yourself and don’t help them to open more doors into sadness. To receive more from God, bless people with your words and actions instead.

• You shall not commit adultery: The book of Ephesians talked a lot about how husband and wife should relate with themselves. If the book of law of is still being diligently used this day, a lot of husbands and wives would have been stoned to death according to how it’s being done in Israel then. However, since God gave us a new hope in him by giving us his son to wash away sins and call us into his purpose, do not misuse the opportunity given by God thereby living your life nonchalantly. Husband, love your wife as God loves the church and wife, respect your husband.

• You shall not steal: Whatever a man gathers by fraudulent acts cannot last because he doesn’t work for it and will definitely use it anyhow. Whatever gathered with lies does not last and in return it brings punishment both on earth and in heaven if the life is lost due to the action. God has blessed everyone from the beginning of the world, instead of boycotting your way and going into theft, while not claim your blessings and inheritance from God and trust the process?

• You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor: Don’t because of what you will gain and destroy your neighbor for your own selfishness. God is not in support of false witness because no matter how long you tell lies, the truth will eventually prevail and your identity will be ruined.

• You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s: Instead of enviously yearning for what belong to your neighbor, work hard for yours. You are obliged to help in keeping whatever is your neighbor’s, not enviously holding unto it. Wishing for the sadness and downfall of others will only pull you down at the end. Cheer others on and work hard to get the stage too. 

In conclusion, keeping the mandates of God is the key to a guaranteed success and walking in the principles of God will open doors into blessings. The commandment wasn’t given for Christians to only memorize, it was given to obey and do them diligently to observe and to do according to all that is written in it. For then you make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.