By Karen Y. Stevens

Do you realize that when Jesus walked on this earth, there wasn’t a New Testament? Everything Jesus taught, was based on the Old Testament.

He said He did not come to do away with the law, but to fulfill the law. So, let’s look at a few of those law’s.

The first commandment is easy to figure out, because in Jesus day there were so many idols that they worshiped as god’s.

God said “You shall have no other god’s before me.”

God even goes on to explain that you shall not make for yourself a carved image, any likeness of anything…you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. So pretty simple, huh?

The next commandment should be simple, but it might have different meanings from the day it was written. “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.” Most people I know, think this commandment means you should not use God’s name as a cuss word. I think it’s much more than that. The Hebrew is translated as “thou shalt not take in vain”. The word here translated as “in vain” is emptiness, vanity; emptiness of speech, lying”. The expression “to take in vain” is also translated less literally, as “to misuse”, (as in God told me to tell you this, when in fact He hadn’t).

I think the first and second commandment, go hand in hand. Basically, the way I see it, is if you’re going to put God first, then don’t misrepresent Him to others. Yes, it’s easier said than done, because we all fail. Praise God for grace! The prophet Isaiah rebuked Israel, pointing out that they bore the name of God, and swore by Him, but their swearing was hypocritical since they had forsaken the exclusive worship of Yahweh for the worship of idols.

So, if you want to follow the second commandment, then basically you must follow the first Commandment. Don’t put anything before God. Again, simple, right?

Accept for our routine of day-to-day existence. We get so caught up in our daily lives, that we put things before God.

As a female, we can relate to this much better than most. When your husband is giving the dog more attention than you, then you feel slighted, less important. Your spouse might have put his arm around you while watching TV, etc., at one time, but now the dog sits in their lap as they pet them instead. Ok, so you don’t have a dog. Then maybe your husband is always in the garage piddling, or whatever is taking his attention from you, or visa versa.

Or maybe it’s your children. They have grown up and moved away, and never call. If you feel this way, how do you think God feels?

We have all felt slighted at one time in our lives, and God feels the same.

Exodus 20:5 says God is a jealous God. Let’s follow Christ example, and fulfill the law by putting God first.

We are less likely to misrepresent God, if He is first in our lives.

Karen Y. Stevens is founder of Orange County Christian Writers Guild