Devotion 

Keep the Commandments 

Frances Taylor 

We who believe that Jesus is the Christ and loves him, loves God the Father as well and the way we show this love is by keeping the commandments. It all goes back to that. Jesus told us he did not come to abolish the commandments, in fact he summed them up in his command to love. No matter where we turn in Scripture the commandments come up. The Israelites kept breaking them and the prophets kept reminding them to turn back to God. The psalms ask forgiveness for breaking them and thanks for God's forgiveness. John the Baptist calls people to repent because they had forgotten the commandments. Jesus reminds us of their importance and yet we still ignore them. We lie, cheat, steal, covet and basically do what we want and don't worry about the consequences. I guess we have to decide what loving Jesus and his Father means to us. We know what John says, but! To love like that today is so counter-cultural, we are mocked and scorned as being too pious, or old-fashioned. We're told to get with it and be like everyone else. Sin is nothing but an out of date concept, so why are we in just as much trouble as those who came before us. Where are today's prophets? What will make us wise up? When will we begin to live a life of love?

Prayer 

Loving and forgiving God, we say we love you, we say we want to follow your Son, but we keep failing. Give us the grace and strength to love as we should. Amen.