The 10 Commandments are about Freedom

Exodus 20:1-17:  The 10 commandments begin with God saying, “I, the LORD, am your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery.”  The commandments that follow are the rules and laws of a freed people.  What a great symbol of our Christian moral life.  Now that we have been freed from sin, how shall we live? 

 

The laws and commandments of God go beyond these 10.  One could include all of the Old Testament and all of the New Testament, or consider the Law of Love where Jesus summarized the whole Law as Love God with all your heart and Love your neighbor as yourself.  All of these moral laws exist to keep us free from the slavery of sin.  They are like guardrails, or warning signs on treacherous roads.  They are the way that we avoid becoming slaves again. 

It is as if God agreed to pay off our all our credit card debt, and all of our national debt, and then said, “here is how to stay out of debt.”  Who in his right mind would choose to go back into debt after being freed from debt? Who would become a slave again after being freed?  Apparently many of us human beings would, because we do it over and over again.  Over and over again, God comes to our rescue, freeing us from the slavery of sin, and reminding us of the way to avoid slavery in the future. 

Jesus is the perfect human.  He is without sin, and lives as God intends us to live.  We are the most like God when we live as Jesus did.  Therefore, we are the most free when we follow the Law of love and freedom embodied in the 10 commandments. 

As we continue our Lenten journey, may we work at being free by following the 10 commandments.