Daily Worship

Respect

Albert Bogle March 18, 2014 0 0

Exodus 20: 1-7

And God spoke all these words, saying,

 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

 “You shall have no other gods before me.

 “You shall not make for yourself a 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 down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

 “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

Lord,
I’ve been thinking about the ten commandments
Ten rules by which to live our lives
Doesn’t seem a lot; pretty minimal, 
compared to all the laws that are past by our legislators.
Reading between the lines 
I see you guard your name, 
Your image
Your trade mark
We’ve not to take your name in vain;
use it as a swear word,
I mean swearing by it 
then breaking  the promise.
When we use your name 
we’ve certainly not use it as a punctuation mark

I guess what lies behind your rule is the idea of respect
You expect us to respect your name
Your identity.
Your holiness
Your role as the original creator
What’s that you said Lord?
As always your name affects us
I guess your saying
Its also about self respect
If we’re made in your image 
We’ve also to respect each others
Respect ourselves

Lord,
Your commandments say a lot in a pack of ten
Help me find space in my “life frame” for all ten

 

Albert Bogle, St Andrew's Church, Bo'ness