The 10 Commandments – Measuring by God’s Standard

“The LORD said to Moses, ‘Come up to me on the mountain and wait there, that I may give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandments, which I have written for their instruction.’”

Exodus 24:12

Dear Kids,

If you want to do things right you must do them using the correct standard. Measuring with a faulty ruler creates a flawed product. God gave His children, the fledgling nation of Israel, a set of rules on which to base their life. The outline of these rules is called the 10 Commandments. God wrote them on tablets of stone for the nation’s instruction. These would be the standard for all of their attitudes and actions towards God and their fellow man.

Measure By the Right Standard

Recently while dressing for work I grabbed my belt from the chair where I had dropped it a few days before. I weaved it through the loops of my jeans and pulled the leather tight through the buckle slipping the prong neatly into hole four. This was a huge surprise to me since I can usually barely get the prong into hole two. But this unexpected astonishment created an incredible sense of pride. “Wow,” I thought, “My healthy eating efforts are paying off, and even the extra scoops of ice cream I’ve indulged in lately hasn’t affected my weight loss progress!”

Throughout the day euphoria over my huge diet win carried me along. How could this have been so easy when other past efforts have ended without much luck? But that evening my excitement escaped into thin air like a pin pricked balloon when I noticed a long piece of brown leather lying on the floor by my chair. Upon investigation I realized, to my chagrin, that it was my belt. I must have picked up someone else’s that morning and the four extra inches made a difference. I hadn’t lost any weight at all. I was just measuring by the wrong standard.

God Gives the 10 Commandments

God had brought the children of Israel out of bondage in Egypt. He was their new Master and wanted them to live by the standard He set forth. When the people heard the words of God they enthusiastically responded, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.”

Yet the 10 commandments only served to reveal the sin in the people’s lives. Every good they tried to do fell short when measured up against God’s law. Ultimately their failure pointed them to the need for a Savior who would come many years later to fulfill the law they could not keep on their own.

Application for Today

Nothing is new today. The Bible reveals that all people have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Sin mars every good thing we do. If we judge our deeds against other people’s deeds, they may look fine, but when gauged against God’s perfection and holiness they are as filthy as dirty rags (Isaiah 64:6). This goes to show that it is not personal works of righteousness that will make us right with God. Instead it is according to His mercy that He saves us (Titus 3:5).

Each person must consider this truth. When you look at your life what measure are you using to judge yourself? Don’t gauge your status with God by how you measure up to other people, or by the good things you think or do. If you wear the wrong belt you will get the wrong idea about your waistline. And unless you use God’s Word as your standard you will develop a mistaken impression about yourself. But when standing against the measure of God’s word and the truth of sin dawns, you will also find a Savior waiting with mercy and grace to save. Look to Him today!

Love,

Mama

The 10 Commandments – Exodus 20

Do You Pass the Test