By Faith Addington, Catholicism Columnist
The Ten Commandments, amongst other messages in the Old Testament, are often seen as outdated, inapplicable, and even archaic. Upon first reading them, it is so simple to skim through the Ten Commandments without contemplating the meaning of each. After all, you’ve never killed another person, you don’t worship another god, you don’t cheat or steal, and very rarely do you say ‘oh my god’ or lie to someone. The Israelites must have had some really bad habits for God to give them commandments such as these. However, there is a deeper meaning to each commandment.
You shall have no other gods before me. In this first commandment, God calls each of us to evaluate every aspect of our daily lives. Is God truly at the forefront of every thought, word, and action? Do we spend an inordinate amount of time watching TV, scrolling on social media, or even working, where we are taking away from time better spent with God? Consider where you spend a majority of your time and money. Is it God? Through this commandment, God is revealing the importance of building a relationship with Him. He wants to spend time with us; He wants us to choose Him first because He chose us first.
You shall not make idols. This second commandment focuses on how we worship God. While creating an idol can originally be seen as an act of worship towards the one true God – such as the Israelites creating the golden calf to represent the God that freed them from Egypt – an idol can very quickly take the place of worshiping the one, true God. God yearns for us to spend time with Him. As His children, it is illogical to spend our time worshiping an image of Him rather than worshiping the direct source.
You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain. God warns us in this third commandment to beware our human inclination to alter His words and commandments into our own interpretations. We must not utilize God or His Word for our own selfish gain, rather, worship who He is: who He has revealed Himself to be.
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. God spent six days creating the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day, he rested. We too, are to rest on the sabbath day and spend it in contemplation of what really matters. Six days of the week are spent devoted to ourselves: furthering our education, working, perhaps realizing our vocation. All God asks of us is to devote the sabbath towards praying or fulfilling His will. These first four commandments are expressions of God’s love for us and the relationship He longs to have with us.
The Saint 