“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy …” Exodus 20:8

The Lord God required His people (under the old covenant) to set aside the seventh day as a day of rest from their labors and as a day to consider Him and His ways. Since God Himself created the heavens and the earth in six days and rested on the seventh, so also His people were to refrain from their labors on the Sabbath to hear His Word and honor Him (cf. Ex. 20:8-11; Deut. 5:12-15; Isa. 58:13-14).

We are no longer required to rest from all our labors on the seventh day, or on any other day of the week (cf. Col. 2:16-17; Rom. 14:5-6; Acts 15:1ff.; Gal. 1:1ff.). But, as God required the children of Israel to rest on the Sabbath Day so that they might have time to hear His Word and worship Him, so He commands us to set aside time from our earthly labors that we also might hear and consider His Word and glorify His holy name (cf. Isa. 58:13-14; Col. 3:16; 2 Tim. 3:14-17; Luke 11:28; Acts 2:42; Ps. 95:1ff.; Ps. 111:1; Gal. 6:6-8; etc.).

In order to do this, Christians have historically set aside Sunday, the day of Christ’s resurrection, as a time for worship and meditation upon God’s Word. And Christians also seek to take time on a daily basis for Bible reading and prayer.

To neglect the services of God’s house and not to take the time for Bible reading and prayer in our homes is a sin against God’s commandment. And, when we neglect to hear and carefully consider the teaching of God’s Word, we endanger our own souls, for it is through the Word of God that the Holy Spirit reveals to us our Savior and eternal life in His name (cf. Heb. 10:24-25; Rom. 10:17; 2 Tim. 3:14-17).

Hearing God’s will and commandment regarding the Sabbath should move us to repent of our neglect of His Word and to turn back to Him for mercy and forgiveness in Christ Jesus, God’s Son. His commandment also guides us as we then seek to amend our ways and live for Him so that we regularly set aside a portion of the time God has given us to meditate upon His Word and worship Him.

And, as with all of God’s commandments, obedience brings with it rich blessings we would otherwise never know or experience. The treasures of God’s Word are rich!

Dear LORD God, forgive us for neglecting to set aside time to hear Your saving Word and worship You. Give us true love for You and Your Word so that we continue to learn of the salvation You have provided for us in Christ Jesus, our Savior. In His name, we pray. Amen.

[Scripture is quoted from the King James Version of the Bible.]

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. Exodus 20:7

Many consider it a light thing to misuse God’s name in their language and speech. They curse, swear, lie and deceive by it. Some use God’s name or His Word, the Bible, to support their own false beliefs and teachings. Some use it superstitiously, as though their use of God’s name or things connected with it will bring them good luck and fortune. And all too seldom is God’s name used rightly to pray to Him, to praise and glorify Him, and to give Him thanks!

God says that He “will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.” It is not a trivial offense with God to abuse His holy name, but a serious offense that will bring His wrath and judgment!

This commandment condemns us all for our misuse of God’s name and for our neglect to use it rightly in ways which bring to the LORD God honor and glory and praise. God’s Word applies to each of us when it says, “The LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.”

Our only hope is in Jesus Christ, God’s Son, for He kept this commandment perfectly for us and used God’s name rightly. Jesus called upon His Father in prayer and praises. He taught God’s Word rightly. And His whole life brought honor and glory to God’s holy name – whether that be through His manner of living, His teaching, or His miracles.

And, in His death and resurrection too, Jesus brought honor and glory to God’s holy name. He willingly carried out His Father’s will and went to the cross and bore the guilt and shame and punishment for the sins of all mankind that God might show us mercy and give to us forgiveness in His Son, Christ Jesus. Jesus rose again and ascended to the right hand of His Father, and He continues His work of bringing life and salvation to lost sinners.

Jesus rightly prayed, “Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: as thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do” (John 17:1-4).

Jesus Christ, on the tree of the cross, brought glory to His Father’s name and bore the full punishment for all our sins. He desires that we, too, bring God glory by repenting of our misuse of God’s name and of our failures to live and speak in ways that bring God’s name glory. He desires that we turn to Him for mercy. And, in His Word, He promises that forgiveness for all our sins and life everlasting, as well as the help to use God’s name rightly, are ours through faith in Jesus’ name.

And placing our faith in Jesus – trusting in Him alone for forgiveness and life – brings glory to God’s name!

O LORD God, forgive us for taking Your holy name in vain and for neglecting to use it rightly. Graciously help us to hallow Your name among us. We ask this for the sake of Jesus Christ and His innocent sufferings and death on the cross to redeem us. Amen.

[Scripture is quoted from the King James Version of the Bible.]

Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. Exodus 20:4-6

We are not to make ourselves an image or likeness of anything and worship or honor it as if it were a god or could in some way help us.

While this clearly prohibits the making of idols of wood, silver and gold, it also forbids making a god after our own image. We are not to make our god to be like us by putting our values and our thoughts into our image and understanding of God (cf. Ex. 32; Isa. 55:8-9). Rather, we are to accept and honor the LORD God of the Bible, believing what He Himself tells us of Himself in His Word.

As our Maker and Redeemer, the LORD God has every right to be a jealous God. And, since He has made us, He also has every right to punish us when we turn away from Him and disobey His commandments. He created us to live for Him and to do His holy will. How it angers and disappoints the LORD when we are rebellious and sinful creatures!

Our God does not take sin lightly, as some suppose; nor can one escape His judgment. He visits and punishes the sins of the fathers upon the children even unto the third and fourth generations of those who hate Him. This means that, in addition to the eternal punishments of hell which all unbelievers will suffer, God will, during their earthly lives, punish the unbelieving children, grandchildren, and even great-grandchildren, for the sins of those who hate Him and turn aside from His holy commandments.

This is certainly a warning to us against giving in to the temptations of the devil, the world, and our sinful flesh! If we turn aside from the LORD God and live in sin, He will punish us also! Our claims to love the LORD God mean little if we are unwilling to live for Him and keep His commandments.

Rather, let us acknowledge our sins to the LORD and turn to Him for forgiveness and the needed strength to amend our lives and live for Him. For the sake of Christ’s innocent sufferings and death in our stead, God will be gracious and merciful to us. Cf. Psalm 32.

Dear LORD God, for the sake of Christ’s bitter sufferings and death and His glorious resurrection, forgive our sins and renew our hearts that we might live for You in obedience to Your holy commandments. Amen.

[Scripture is quoted from the King James Version of the Bible.]

Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Exodus 20:3

Since the LORD God is our Maker and Redeemer, we are to have no other gods before Him – or, more literally, before His face. And, since He is present everywhere and sees all, this means we are to have no other gods but Him!

He is the only true God, He made us and gave us life (Gen. 1 and 2; Psalm 139:13-16; John 1:1-5) and we should “fear, love and trust in Him above all things” (Martin Luther’s Small Catechism).

The Bible teaches us that all other gods are nothing but useless idols (1 Cor. 8:4; Psalm 96:5) and we should remember that the LORD God is the Almighty Creator and honor Him as such by obeying His commandments and avoiding all that displeases Him.

Because the LORD God is our Maker and also our Redeemer, we have every reason to love Him with all our heart, soul and mind and gladly live our lives for Him (cf. Matt. 22:37; 2 Cor. 5:15).

God has so wonderfully made us and provided for all our needs; and He has, through Christ’s sufferings, death and resurrection, redeemed us from our sins and the eternal punishment we so deserve. Does He ask too much when He commands that we honor Him, love Him and trust Him with all our heart, mind and soul and commit our entire lives to His care and keeping?

Have we done this? We must all admit our utter failure, for we so often neglect Him and push Him out of our lives as though He did not exist. Instead of giving Him the honor due His name as our Maker, Redeemer, and our Judge, we take His Word lightly and ignore and disobey His commandments, which He gave to us for our good (cf. Rom. 7:10ff.).

Every time we sin against any commandment of the LORD, we are also failing to fear, love and trust in God above all things. We think and act as though we ourselves know better than God. We place ourselves, other people, and even the things of this world before the loving God who gave us life in our mother’s womb and won for us everlasting life in Christ Jesus, our Savior. We fail to give Him the glory and honor due unto His name! Cf. Psalms 96 and 100.

And what is the punishment for disobeying God’s command? Is it a slap on the wrist? Or is it the eternal punishments of hell? The Bible says: “The soul that sinneth, it shall die” (Ezek. 18:20); and, “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death” (Rev. 21:8).

How thankful we can be that God has not turned His back on us as we so often have done to Him! Though we have forgotten Him, He has not forgotten us. Though we have rebelled and disobeyed, He still kept His word and promise (cf. Gen. 3:15) and has given to us His only-begotten Son to be our Savior. Christ Jesus went to the cross in our stead and atoned for our sins and the sins of all and rose again in victory that we might receive pardon and forgiveness through faith in His name! Cf. John 3:16; Rom. 5:8; Gal. 4:4-5; 1 John 2:1-2.

And again, when we consider all He has done to honor us, how could we fail to honor Him with godly fear, love and trust in His holy name?

LORD God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, be merciful to us and forgive us for our many failures to honor You as the LORD God, our Maker and Redeemer. Enable and teach us to fear, love and trust in You above all else. We ask this for the sake of Jesus Christ, God the Son and our Savior. Amen.

[Scripture is quoted from the King James Version of the Bible.]

“And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, broke, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.” Matthew 14:19 (Read Matt. 14:13-21)

What do you do when the situation seems hopeless? Certainly, the situation must have seemed hopeless for Jesus’ disciples; He had told them to feed the multitudes of people, and they only had five small loaves of bread and two fish with which to feed this crowd of over five thousand.

What did Jesus do? We read in Matthew 14:19 that “He commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed, broke, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.”

In St. John’s account of this same event, we read that “Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to those who were sitting down, and likewise of the fish, as much as they wished” (John 6:11).

Our Lord Jesus did not fret and worry over the tremendous shortage of food to feed this multitude. He simply trusted in His heavenly Father, gave thanks to Him for the food He had provided (John 6:11), blessed it, and distributed it to the people by means of His disciples.

And we know the results: “And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained. And those who had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children” (Matt. 14:20-21).

“What a miracle!” we say. But here we see not only a great miracle of Jesus, our Savior; we see an example for us when the situation seems hopeless – when there is not enough food, money, clothes, etc. to meet our needs.

We could look at the insignificance of what we have compared to our apparent need and say as did the disciples of Jesus when they had only five barley loaves and two small fish: “But what are they among so many?” (John 6:9). Or, we could do as Jesus did, and give thanks and look to heaven and trust in our heavenly Father to supply us with all our needs (cf. Phil. 4:19; Jer. 32:17)!

In Philippians 4:6, we read: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” St. Paul also writes to the Thessalonians: “Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you” (1 Thess. 5:17-18).

The Bible also tells us: “He who did not spare his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not also with him freely give us all things?” (Rom. 8:32).

God has already supplied our greatest need by sending His own dear Son to suffer and die for us sinners so that we might have forgiveness for all our sins and everlasting life with Him in heaven through faith in His name. Shall He not also, since He gave us His own Son, Jesus Christ, to redeem us from sin and eternal punishment, provide for all of our other needs of body and soul? We can trust in Him who so loved us that He spared not His own Son!

O dearest Jesus, grant to us a faith like Yours to trust in the loving hand of Your dear Father to provide us with all our needs of both body and soul. We call upon You for the sake of Your holy life and innocent sufferings and death in our stead. Amen.

[Scripture is quoted from the Revised Common Version of the Bible.]