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  “Thou shalt not kill.” Exodus 20:13   Which of these adages do you espouse? “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me” or “The pen is mightier than the sword”. The first of these sayings was very popular on the school playground when I was younger. The second derived much more meaning as I grew up. The reality is words do have an impact; words can leave as many scars and do as much damage as a physical weapon for much longer (Proverbs 18:8). A person’s psyche is just as real as their physical tangible self, and more sensitive to injury. In speaking to what lay at the foundation of keeping the commandments Jesus said: “whosoever is angry with his brother without as cause”, “whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca (O empty one, or worthless)” is guilty of breaking this commandment (Matthew 5:21, 22).   School yard teasing when I was in school seem to be less personal and not as relentless as what we see currently happening in schools, onl...

  “Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.” Exodus 20:12   The straightforward application of this commandment is to obey whatever your parents (or guardians) tell you to do (Ephesians 6:1; Colossians 3:20). But what if your parents are leading you away from the will of God? If your parents are leading you in direct opposition to the will of God, the will of God stands supreme. Jesus said: “He that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me”. This does not negate our need to respect our parents. It is possible to respectfully disagree with parents and guardians as it relates to direct commands from God. God sees and knows our varied situations and when we bring them to Him, He has a thousand was to fix the situation when we can’t see one (DA 330.1).   The reality is parents were given instructions by God in how to raise children (Deuteronomy 6:7; 11:19). Parents are to teach their ...

  “Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.” Exodus 20:8-11   As Seventh-day Adventists we, by our very name, show how highly we value this particular commandment. From our name one can learn that we are looking forward to the second coming of Jesus and, they can also know that we believe in all His commandments, including the command to rest on the seventh day. So why does this seem to be the one commandment we have the most trouble keeping? Yes, we understand that we don’t go to work on the Sabbath, we don’t go to school or study on the...

  “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain.” Exodus 20:7   When we read the Bible, we learn that God is Omnipotent, Omniscient, and Omnipresent. In the very first chapter of Genesis we see that when God speaks things happen. He said, “Let there be light: and there was light” (Genesis 1:3). As we go on in Scripture, we learn that by calling on the name of the Lord we can be saved (Romans 10:13). There is power in God’s name; but this can be no ordinary call, this has to be a call of faith (Acts 3:1-16; Hebrews 11:6). While on earth, there was an incident where Jesus was in a press of people, everyone bouncing against Him but only one person was healed, because she touched Him in faith, not happenstance (Luke 8:43-48). Jesus’ major issue while on earth was having people truly believe in Him, Jesus cried and groaned for the faithlessness of His people (John 11:33-38). Complete faith in God...