Ex 19-21 More than a Law

January 23rd, Exodus 19-21

       When I was a kid we used to get chocolate Easter bunnies for...well...Easter. They used to be solid chocolate, chocolate through and through. Then someone decided they could make a lot more money if the bunnies were hollow. Same size bunny, half the chocolate. for those transition years, I felt ripped off.
       There is the same truth I try to get across to people when it comes to understanding God. Whatever God is, he is that through and through. There is no top layer to God that has some inner qualities that are different. That's not always true for us. For us it's more of a struggle, I can be nice(chocolaty)  on the outside and very different on the inside.
       How does that matter with today's famous 10 Commandments? When God decides the 10 Commandments they are an opportunity for us to catch a glimpse of God. They are not random rules God just decided on. It wasn't a coin flip: Heads (murder, adultery, stealing bad), Tails (murder, adultery, stealing good). God is letting us know something very important that goes to the very core of who he is, that needs to go to the very core of who we are.
      1.No other god is useful to you, only Me 2. Giving allegiance to another god is pointless 3. My name is more than a name, it is powerful and to use it vainly is to misunderstand something important 4. I'm omnipotent and took a day off, why don't you 5. Authority matters(Christ obeyed His Father) honor it becuase that's how things work in the trinity 6. Life is valuable, you have no right to take it 7. To the core of My Being I would never cheat on you 8. There is no emptiness inside of Me that would cause me to take from you 9. Truth permeates everything about me 10. Contentment is who I Am and comes solely through Me
       As God expresses His rules for His people. There is so much more to learn than just the list of rules. As we begin to live in obedience to those rules things will become different to the core of us as well...by the grace of God and the power of the Spirit.