“Observe thou that which I command thee this day….” Exodus 34:11
I know there are people that think they are good people and that being good will get them into Heaven, but if we listen to God’s law, we see that this just is not the case.
God knows what is right. He knows what is the best way for us to live. That is why He gave us the Ten Commandments – those moral absolutes that we should all follow.
We should all ask ourselves which ones have we broken.
Have we ever told a lie? Even a “little” one is enough to break the commandment not to bear false witness.
Have we ever stolen anything? The Lord said, “Thou shalt not steal.”
Have we ever committed adultery? Jesus said “Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.”
What about “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.”
This commandment is not just about using the Lord’s name as a swear-word. It is about saying anything that takes away the reverence His name should hold.
Maybe you’re saying to yourself that if God is a good, loving God surely He wouldn’t keep me from Heaven for these little things? After all, I haven’t murdered anyone or done something really bad.
This is just a way to rationalize and justify our wrongdoing, and it won’t work.
Jesus said that if we are guilty of one of them, we are guilty of all. And because we have all broken at least one of them, that makes us all sinners and deserving of punishment.
Look at it from the point of view of a court of law. If you broke this many laws and had to face a judge, do you think that judge would just let you walk? Not hardly. There are always consequences for our actions.
Look at it from a parental point of view. Don’t parents use discipline to teach their children right from wrong because we love them?
Why then, should we think our Heavenly Father would let us go on breaking His laws and ignoring his instruction without some form of punishment?
If we have lived our lives with our backs to Him, shutting Him out, why then should we expect Him to help us in our time of need?
If we have rejected His Son, Jesus Christ, not allowing Him into our lives as our Lord and Savior, why should we expect to be allowed into Heaven?
© Drusilla Mott and https://drusillamott.wordpress.com, 2011
On Faith and Writing 