6th Commandment as a Love Letter...
If there was a law in the 10 commandments where you're like "Duuuhhh..." the 6th one could be it.
"You shall not murder."
Really?
Isn't that obvious?
God often has many layers in His words or laws,
As it all reveals a little more about Him and His character,
If we'd just dig a little deeper.
So the question we should be asking is,
What is God's HEART around this law?
What was He thinking or feeling when He wrote this law?
10 Commandments Law #6:
"You shall not murder."
SCENARIO: Remember that the Israelites coming out of Egypt were deeply ingrained in Egyptian culture and values where every life was not valuable. Killing a slave was no big deal. They were viewed as nothing more than property. When you've been exposed to this for 400 years and that becomes the norm, then even God's chosen people, the Israelites start to blur the lines on the value of life. So God had to remind them of His way of looking at life.
Every person is made in God's image.
Every life is precious,
Jesus would have come to die for just any ONE of us.
And there's more...
Jesus definition of murder is way broader in the New Testament.
He says...
"You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’
But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell."
The word "Raca" means empty-headed. That's like calling someone stupid or idiot. So basically Jesus is saying that if you say anything negative or derogatory about another person, it breaks God's heart.
To God, if we call someone stupid or foolish, we are degrading another being that is made in HIS image.
To God, He sees past the sin nature of us humans and into the original form He created us.
God sees the potential and His divine spark in everyone.
While we see brokenness, addiction, smelliness, wounds and scars,
He sees light, love, preciousness, gentleness and child-like faith.
Not only that God is tracing murder all the way back to it's first inception, it's original thought. The very first pre-pre-pre-cursor to murder is a negative thought about another person. A loving thought would never give birth to a murderous thought, but a negative thought is the first SEED to a thought that eventually leads to death.
Whoa. Jesus is so insightful it blows our minds.
He has such a high level view that He can instantly see everything in terms of life or death.
Those things that give us LIFE He rejoices in.
The things that leads to DEATH He warns or forbids us to do,
Just as any good parent would say "Do NOT drink that poison."
If 15 drops of arsenic is deadly,
Can you imagine a parent ever saying, "I'm ok with my child having one drop of arsenic."
No way! O_o
If a parent saw their small child with a bottle of arsenic in their hand they would probably smack it from their hand and yell "You are NOT allowed touch this. Do you understand me?! Don't even go near this ever again."
To the child it may seem harsh or scary,
But to the parent it's all about saving their child's life and preventing them from playing with arsenic ever again.
That's how God is about murder.
The first drop of murder is a small, negative thought towards a person.
It can seems like nothing at first,
But that's all Satan needs to start growing a deadly SEED of a thought,
And it can grow so fast and without us realizing it,
And we must take intentional effort to pull it out and keep the garden of your hearts clean.
So don't be ok with taking a drop of arsenic here and there,
As it's birthing seeds of death.
If you listen closely, you can almost hear God saying,
"Stay safe, My child.
Don't touch the poison,
I know everyone else is doing it,
But it will kill you.
Negative thoughts turn into negative words,
It poisons your soul,
It sprouts weeds of evil in your heart,
And it will be a snare for you.
Don't plant those seeds of evil,
Don't take the drops of arsenic,
Stay away from the poison,
Stay away from the toxic thoughts,
It will only lead to DEATH.
I want you to have LIFE and LIFE to the fullest.
Feed your heart with My LOVE,
Let me cleanse and purify you,
So you can live your best LIFE for all eternity.
I love you, My child.
Choose LIFE, not death.
LIVE forever in happiness with Me."
God's heart is to give us our BEST life.
Isn't that what we all want?
That's why He gave us this 6th commandment to keep us healthy and pure.
"Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank You for Your wisdom,
Thank Your for Your insight and foresight,
I'm lost without You,
I'd drink poison without knowing it if it weren't for You.
Thank You for giving me these loving guardrails,
Thank You for protecting me,
Thank You for warning me,
Thank You for loving me so much and dying for me.
Help me guard the garden of my heart,
Help me hold each thought captive,
Help me remove the weeds of evil thoughts,
And become more like You.
May I choose LIFE over death,
May I choose YOU above anything else,
May I please YOU and think of YOU more each day.
I love You,
I praise You,
In Jesus name, Amen."
Cheers to embracing God's 6th Love Letter and thinking GOOD thoughts only. Lord, help us with that DAILY! ^_^
