October 8: Exodus 20:1-20

Key Verse: Exodus 20:3
You shall have no other gods before me.

Devotion:
If there are things we forget it is most likely going to be the things which happened when we were just living life and which happened a long time ago. But when big things happen in our lives we tend to remember them even if they happened a long time ago. The Hebrews had been long-time slaves to the Egyptians and now God had delivered them from their plight. But before they got comfortable and started forgetting things He wanted them to remember some basic rules about how they should now conduct their lives.

No longer were they going to be told what to do every day. No longer were they going to be restricted from living their own lives. No longer were they going to just listen and do… they would have to find their own way now and live a new life.

When we leave home for the first time we start out on a new adventure, and if we have listened to our parents we most likely have a good chance at making it through the next few years. God wanted the people to have a good grounding of basic rules to live by and so He gave these rules to Moses.

This is what we now know as the Ten Commandments; the basic rules God gave us to live by. None of them are grievous. None are impossible. But as humans we may find some of them difficult to follow when so many people around us are ignoring them! God wants you to have a great life and these are the simple ways of doing that, starting with loving Him!

Points to Ponder:
Do you keep God as you primary focus?

Will you try to keep these commandments?