The Top Ten

 God gave us many commandments in His Word. They are all very important for us to obey. However, there are 10 Commandments that stand above the rest as the basis of God's will for all people. The first 4 deal with our relationship with God, and the final 6 cover our relationships with people and things. If we want to follow the Lord, we must make these 10 commands a priority for our lives. Yes, they are still in effect, even though they are in the Old Testament.

Nehemiah knew the 10 Commandments well. He knew that the people of God had been sent into exile because they did not keep these commands and the others laws of God. Therefore, when he saw the people breaking any of the commands, he had to intervene. (Nehemiah 13:17) He reprimanded the nobles of Judah for this. He said, "What is this evil thing that you are doing by profaning the Sabbath day?" We shouldn't want to get reprimanded for this either.

The Sabbath is holy. God set it aside as a special day of rest and worship each week. From the beginning of creation it has been this way, even before Moses was given the commandments by God on the mountain. Holy means that is was set apart from the other days to be different from the other 6 days. We are commanded to rest from our regular work and activities and focus on God in worship.

The nobles of Judah were buying and selling on the Sabbath just like any other day, and that is what upset Nehemiah. We must refrain from anything that makes the Sabbath just like any other day. That is what it means to make it "profane." The profane things are the common things. We must make the Sabbath our weekly time with the Lord, or He will bring His anger upon us, as He did on Israel. So, let's make sure we keep the top ten and all God's commands out of love for Him.

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Tomorrow, I intend to read Esther 1-4.