Ten Commandments: On Eagles' Wings

Chuckle: On her first visit to a church, a little girl was awed by the occasion. "Mama," she whispered. "Does the minister live here or does he come down from heaven every Sunday!"

Quote: "Anyone who stops learning is old, whether this happens at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps on learning not only remains young, but becomes constantly more valuable regardless of physical capacity." --Harvey Ullman

"You have seen what I did to the Egyptians. You know how I brought you to myself and carried you on eagles' wings" (Exodus 19:4 NLT).

Through Moses, God communicated his love and compassion for his people. He reminded them how they were slaves in Egypt; how they cried out to Him; how He heard their cries and saw their tears; how He came down to buy them back from slavery; how He helped them escape across the Red Sea with Pharaoh's armies in pursuit; how He provided manna for food in the wilderness and fresh water from the desert; and how He swooped down and bore them on eagles wings. In all these ways God showed his love for his people.

Like the mother eagle makes a nest, nurtures, and teaches the young eagle to fly, so God wanted Moses to remind the people of His love before giving them these commands. At one time, each of us were like the baby eagle with no hope and nothing to cling to -- "without hope and without God in the world" (Ephesians 2:12).

But what happened? In Christ, God swoops down and picks us up (saves us) and now sustains us and keeps us every day of our lives. He gives us His Word to guide and protect us. As you yearn for your children to avoid destructive paths in their lives; how much more our heavenly Father desires the same for His children. Out of His love, He wants to protect us from the snares of the evil one, and help us to find eternal peace.

The lines between truth and untruth are becoming increasingly blurred in our culture. Paul called these days "perilous times" in 2 Timothy 3:1. From the media, we see that no one seems to know what is right and ethical and moral anymore. People say: "well this may be wrong for you, but it's right for me. That may be wrong in this situation, but right in that situation." This kind of confusion leads to adultery, lying, stealing, killing, abortion, etc.

With the Ten Commandments, God said, "let me remove the confusion and ambiguity from your lives. There are parameters within them that are literally matters of life and death." God, more than anyone else, understands how life works. He knows the consequences of our decisions. "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11). But, just like in the Garden of Eden, Satan does not want us to see God's commands as products of love given for our own good, but as harsh, unfair, and irrelevant in today's world.

Love, Jerry & Dotse