Thursday, May 16, 2013

Reverse Order _____ Omissions

10~"17“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
No problem with that, right? Isn't that how you live your life? Not being jealous of your neighbor's wealth or stuff?
9~"16“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor." 
Isn't that at the heart of your moral code? Isn't your honesty uncompromising?
8~"15“You shall not steal."
This is tied to your honesty, right? You wouldn't steal a grape at the grocery store. You wouldn't stoop to theft.
7~"14“You shall not commit adultery."
Easiest one on the list-
6~"13“You shall not murder."
Almost as easy. You value human life-you wouldn't kill anyone period.
5~"12“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land~~"
Aaannndddd we have our first omission. Of course you honor your parents-this is like commanding you to
take an umbrella if its raining.

Okay, that's enough. 
Each of these commandments are probably part of your moral makeup, what makes you who you are.
Each is solid and good, and will help you to live a good life. You could build your house on that moral high ground, and do fine.
But in following these precepts you will only please yourself. Your neighbor might appreciate that his or her's stuff is safe around you, but beyond that he has his own hash to chop up.
The omissions, beginning with that which is missing from number five above, are all about pleasing God rather than yourself.
As I said, you could live a good life on that moral high ground. And fail eternally, end up in hell.
These aren't just moral good ideas found on the back of a cereal box. They came directly from God, and  the omitted parts are all about honoring God.
You didn't come up with your moral code, God did. He built us, He made you. 
Read the rest of the list yourself, starting with that is missing from number five above.


2 comments:

Doug said...

About the title-'with omissions' is how it should have read. Silly me, but 'with' means added and 'omissions' means subtracted and my brain had a problem with that, more or less.

Doug said...

180* off topic, but this is a good read raising important questions from a Liberal who continues to sound sensible:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/05/21/how-hope-and-change-gave-way-to-spying-on-the-press.html