by Sandra Devera

Created on: March 01, 2009   Last Updated: March 02, 2009

Do the Ten Commandments matter?

Do you believe the owner's manual for a complicated piece of machinery is important?

Lots of people refer to their "auto operator's guide" or the manual that came with their computer. Many people never read the "safety tips" or the "manufacturer's suggestions" when they acquire something new and start to use it. They refer to the "operator's guide" only when they discover a malfunction, some problem that keeps the equipment from performing at its peak capacity.

No matter what your beliefs, your world view, your philosophical persuasion as flesh and bone creations we human beings tend to be pretty impressed with our design. It's something to be as complex and fragile as we are and also as durable and self-repairing. Saint Augustine said, "Men go abroad to wonder at the height of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars; and they pass by themselves without wondering." Some people are too busy to read the tips on care and maintenance on anything, least of all themselves. Until they break down, physically, emotionally or spiritually. Then they wonder "Do the Ten Commandments matter?"

For those who believe human beings are the result of a series of fortunate events, the Ten Commandments won't matter because without an intelligent designer there could be no one who knows from a creator's viewpoint what would help a human being operate best. But for those who believe in a caring, creative God who "knit us in our mother's womb" and who had us in mind "before the foundations of the earth" were formed, then the commandments for how to live life that come from THAT source are important. For humans who hold with that notion of a life-breathing designer, the Ten Commandments found in such places as Exodus 20 have worth because they tell us simple steps that will make life better.

Entire forests have been mulched into books on how to have a vertical relationship with various aspects of something divine, a relationship which we humans worldwide seem to crave. Any trees left have been paper-milled into books on how to have horizontal relationships with the other human beings we discover as a part of our world. But everything you absolutely need to know about spiritual relationships and inter-personal relationships is simply stated in the Ten Commandments.

The first four commandments are how to worship: No other gods, no idols, no misusing the name

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