Exodus chapter 20

The Ten commandments:

1. You shall have no other gods before me.
2. You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.
3. You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
4. Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
5. Honour your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
6. You shall not murder.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not give false testimony against your neighbour.
10. You shall not covet your neighbour's house. You shall not covet your neighbour's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour

These are just as applicable today as they were all those years ago. Just think what a place the world would be if we all obeyed the ten commandments! But who can say honestly say they have never broken any of them? The only one who can say that is Jesus.

They are not an extensive list, with sections, subsections and all other sorts of caveats, but just ten basic commands. But the thing is, if we stick to these, then everything else flows naturally. For instance, if we don't covet, we won't be forever trying to keep up with the Joneses, to get that new car, the biggest and best HD television, the latest fashions, the holiday abroad and so on. We will be content with what God gives us and know that we can trust in Him to provide all we need.

If we put God first in our lives, give Him the glory, the praise, the thanksgiving, then our priorities will flow from that. We will naturally want to do as God would have us do, and yes, whilst we may well (and undoubtedly will) mess up, we will be seeking to do God's will. God should be first in our lives, not last, or after we take the children to school or put that load of washing on, or after we have completed that tax return. And when God is first in our lives, then the rest of the commandments come as naturally as breathing, because we will be walking down the paths God takes us and we won't be seeking to disrespect our parents, commit murder or adultery (even if it is only in our hearts), steal (even if that only involves not giving back the extra change we are given by the shopkeeper when shopping), lie (albeit just repeating something we have been told about someone else when we know it may well not be true) and coveting, wanting what we haven't got because someone else has it.