God's Boundaries: The Ten Commandments
The Ark of The Covenant
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God's Boundaries For Healthy Living
Contrary to what many people think, God is not a cosmic killjoy who delights in saying "No!" to his children. What are often seen as negative commandments are actually God's boundaries for a holy and a healthy lifestyle. He gave the Ten Commandments to Moses for the children of Israel so they would reflect the holiness of God to the other nations around.
The call to holiness is a call to model AN ALTERNATIVE LIFESTYLE to people obsessed with worshipping idols and getting involved in all sorts of practices which God hates because they damage human relationships and harm us in the process.
Below is a modern version of the Ten Commandments rephrased in positive instead of negative terms.
A. Our Relationship With God
1 I love you so much that I will give you Myself. I am true reality, the only God you will ever need. In Me alone you will find wholeness.
2 I desire a wonderful thing - a personal relationship between Myself and each of you. You don’t need inferior representations of Me, such as dead wooden idols. You can have Me. Value that.
3 I love you so much I have given you My name. You will be known as "God’s people on the earth". Don’t misuse it by profaning your new name or by not living up to it.
4 I have given you a beautiful world to work in, play in, and enjoy. In your busyness set aside a day to remember where the world came from. Your bodies need rest; your spirits need the reminder.
