Posted by
JTB on Monday, September 11, 2006 1:29:19 PM
I still have a lot of anger, fear, hatred, weakness, bitterness, and so on about the terrorist attack.
I generally cover it up; but it bubbles up occasionally.
The world did not change on 9/11; just our understanding of it.
Americans tend to view themselves as good people--and we generally are, depending on the measuring stick used...
If we really used the "secular" part of the Ten Commandments (i.e., skipping the parts about other gods, idols, misusing His name, and sabbaths), we'd all still fail:
The Ten Commandments
1 And God spoke all these words:
2 "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
3 "You shall have no other gods before me.
4
"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. 5 You
shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God,
am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to
the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing
love to a thousand {generations} of those who love me and keep my
commandments.
7 "You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
8
"Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall
labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the
LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your
son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals,
nor the alien within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made the
heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested
on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made
it holy.
12 "Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.
13 "You shall not murder.
14 "You shall not commit adultery.
15 "You shall not steal.
16 "You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
17
"You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your
neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or
anything that belongs to your neighbor."
We don't always honor our parents. We hate others in our hearts (which Jesus said was the same as committing murder in our hearts), we lust after members of the opposite sex--well in most cases it's the opposite sex (which Jesus said was the same as committing adultery in our hearts), we steal (even just pens, paper clips, or time spent at work surfing the web), we lie (usually to save ourselves from something wrong we did), and we envy the success of others.
We're all far short of who we should be. The Bible calls that "sin". And since God already knew we'd all be sinners, he gave us a way to avoid the penalty we deserve.
Jesus died on the cross to save you and me from our sins. Please ask Him into your heart today. Read the
Bible to find out more. And go to church on Sunday--there are people who really want to meet you and help you find out more about true freedom!