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In more than three decades of my Christian life, I have been blest by 2 types of Daily devos'
(matter not exceeding 500 words) in universal Christian literature.
Not only those Devos' which have a different theme everyday but also the ones
which revolve around a certain theme over a period of time, say a fortnight have
richly edified me. In fact, both styles have their own inherent advantages.
If the former style caters to the varying spiritual needs of a christian from day-to-day,
the latter aims 'to ground' a child of God in a certain subject in order he derives the full
benefits of the deep insightful study of a certain topic, spread over a fixed span of time.
In my Daily devo page, I have consciously tried to go in for 'a blend of both the styles'
whereby within a constant theme, I would be aiming to focus on different facets of it which admittedly
is a closer imitation of the 'Constant theme' style than the 'Varying topics' one.
For starters in the first month of January I would be dwelling on the theme of the
"Christian Journey", with the material being arranged in a Book-like format under which the pages
would be opened ( i,e..displayed on-line) on each succeeding day.
So here's wishing you a happy & an edifying read....
Suresh Manoharan
January 26th
The Commandments
"The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear,
O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your
God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your
mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this:
'Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these." -
Mark 12:29-31
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Can any study of the journey of the emancipated Jews from Egypt to the
Promised Land be complete without a reflection on the Ten Commandments,
they received
(Exodus 19-20) whilst being camped at the Sinai peninsula?
In our on-going comparison of the journey of the redeemed Jews to the
Promised with that of the Christians to Heaven, let's meditate on the
subject of Ten Commandments, today. Are the Ten Commandments relevant to the Christians?
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Before answering that question, let's also focus on Jesus' words
in the above-captioned scripture portion. A plain observation of
them would lead us to a conclusion that if a Christian, were to
approach God with two tablets of stone like Moses did, only one
commandment would be written in each of those. How true and to
the point are the words of our Lord, for if we obey these two commandments,
we would find ourselves obeying not only the other eight Commandments but rising
to the expectations of our Creator God in every area of our lives. For instance,
forget doing any harm to our neighbours, we would not even indulge in any slanderous
talks about them. On the other hand, we would go out of the way and help one and all,
selflessly, much like the way the Good Samaritan did
(Luke 10:25-37).
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So is the Mosaic Law redundant now? Yes, as the Bible declares that when we are
led by His own Holy Spirit now, the Mosaic Laws no longer apply to us but on the
other hand we being energized by the Holy Spirit would do much more than what the
Law demanded of the Jews
(Galatians 5:1-6/
II Cor 3:7-11/
Hebrews 8:7-13) rising to
higher levels of obedience in every sphere of our lives.
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Prayer:
Father, we thank You for ushering us into a new dispensation,
whereby, we are able to do everything, You require of us by Your own Spirit.
Let our hearts overflow with love and reverential fear for You, at all times.
In Jesus' name. Amen.
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