‘This is Only a Test’ but it’s a BIG one!

“Jeremiah 6:16
Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But you said, ‘We will not walk in it.’

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS Exodus 20:2-17
1	“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me.
2	“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 nor 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 fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My Commandments.
3	“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.
4	“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
5	“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
6	“You shall not murder.
7	“You shall not commit adultery.
8	“You shall not steal.
9	“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
10	“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”

Once again I was watching a very intense law drama on the television when all of a sudden LOUD blasts shatter my concentration and the entire screen goes black. Soon the words are spoken “this is only a TEST, if this had been a real emergency…on and on…you know the drill”. Now, I do understand we need those tests to keep us on our toes, paying attention, but why is it always during the most critical part of the program? Why not plan it during a commercial?

Well, I believe we, in the USA, even around the globe, are in a test. It is also a test for an emergency, one of a different kind! Many times over the course of mankind there have been opportunities to ‘straighten up and fly right.’ Many times people and entire civilizations have ignored it. God keeps reminding us, we keep disobeying and ignoring Him. When Moses brought the Ten Commandments down the mountain to the people, that was the ‘benchmark’ we were to live by. These laws were supposed to make it easier to know what to do, they were written in stone’, there could be no gray areas. They are not like the tests we would take in high school: Multiple choice answers? Nope, only one answer-obey. Maybe essay? nope, you cannot sweet talk the right answer to God the way I did in my Art History class many times! How about True/False tests? Nope His is the only truth that matters, and He already stated it in the Perfect !0! No, there is no negotiating, no curve, no extra credit, no extra day. God said it, we must believe it, and that settles it.

Most of us learned the Ten Commandments as children and recited them in church or at home. Over the years it seems that even in churches these most basic and beneficial laws have lost favor with us and have taken a back seat to a more ‘progressive’ thought process. Unfortunately, we see now how that has fleshed out in our country, and in fact our world. Also unfortunately, for us, God does not change! Shall we see how we are doing as a nation with those commandments?

1-2 You shall have no other God’s before me. We don’t worship Buddha, Allah, Krishna or Jim Jones, so we are ok, right? Well, when we put things like our children’s sports activities or our own celebrations before going to God’s house to worship Him on Sunday, we are bowing to societies ‘god.’ When we follow the stars of Hollywood to the point that we listen to their advise, we are worshiping the ‘star god.’ Or, you may be working so hard to make money so your family has the best, but you are not giving God the worship He is due. Money has become your god. But think for a minute, the same children you are working for are learning that God is not important to you. God says they will suffer to the 3rd and 4th generations. Subsequently, obey God, and blessings will be yours to thousand generations to those who love Him. Small price-BIG dividend!

3. Using God’s name and any other foul or vulgar thing that comes to a depraved mind is costly. Guilt is a very hard jailer!

4. Sunday is for Worshiping God and resting in Him. It’s a recharging for our battery. Enough said.

5. God knows the people who brought you into the world, deserve your respect. Even when it costs you time, patience and treasure, do it! It will go well for you.

6. SIXTY MILLION PEOPLE IN THE USA HAVE BEEN MURDERED BEFORE LEAVING THE WOMB. That’s a headline you won’t read in the paper, but it is true, and our nation is paying for that scourge in various ways we cannot even imaging.

7-8 Commit adultery? Steal? These have become part of the American DNA, sometimes even if you claim to be a Christian!

9-10 Lying and jealousy are just tools we use to get our own way.

It would really benefit us as a nation if we would go back to the ancient paths. The ones that we lived by as children. We were taught to do to others as we would want them to do to us. No milk or mail was stolen from the front porch. My Mom treated my friend like her own, and her parents approved. Two married people lived in the same house as the children, and everyone knew they were either a boy or a girl. The Dr. said it, and that settled it-for life. simpler times. Harder in so many ways, but still clearly defined ancient paths that led to a productive and fulfilled life. Where did we get off that path? Why?