Exodus 31:12-18
The Sabbath
12 Then the Lord said to Moses, 13 “Say to the Israelites, ‘You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the Lord, who makes you holy.
14 “‘Observe the Sabbath, because it is holy to you. Anyone who desecrates it is to be put to death; those who do any work on that day must be cut off from their people. 15 For six days work is to be done, but the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day is to be put to death. 16 The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant. 17 It will be a sign between me and the Israelites forever, for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.’”
18 When the Lord finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him the two tablets of the covenant law, the tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God.
Matthew 22:37-40
Two Greatest Commandments
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Matthew 6:9-13
The Lord's Prayer
9 "This, then, is how you should pray:
" 'Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.'
Luke 7:47-48
Forgiving Much Means to Love Much
47 Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.”
48 Then He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
Moses first met God on Mount Sinai, after seeing a burning bush that was on fire that did not burn up...Moses and God literally got acquainted on Mount Sinai...And Moses was to lead God's people out of Egypt and into the desert and then to the Promised Land of Israel...
Moses was meeting with God again on the sacred mountain...When the LORD finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai, He gave Moses something He wrote...It maybe the only thing that we know about that is actually written by God...Two tablets of the covenant law...And these tablets of stone were inscribed by the finger of God...And written on these tablets were morals issues, moral things...On these stone tablets were principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad behavior...The first thing Moses received written by God was the Ten Commandments...God is a Moral Being...He wants us to know about right and wrong...
Our behavior matters...How we interact with others matters...How we interact with God matters...That is one of the reasons He wrote these two tablets...Mankind being good or bad matters to God...And God put that in writing...Because our behavior matters to God, we must conclude that He is a Relational Being...This is not a jump to a conclusion, but a fact...If One wants us to treat others with love, then relationships matter, and that makes Him a Relational Being...
When God sent His Son to us, He summarizes the two stone tablets...Jesus tells us that the two greatest commandments on these stone tablets that Moses received were about LOVE...We are to love God, number one...And the second commandment is to love our neighbors...For believers of Jesus, this strengthens our belief in God and that there is a God...Jesus is a moral being, and He two wants us to love God and love others, even our enemies...Therefore, Jesus is a Relational Being...
To have a relationship with God and His Son, we have to communicate and talk to them...Prayer is the way we communicate with Them...The LORD's Prayer teaches us that God is Holy and that there is a need to keep life simple in asking for our daily bread, and on forgiving others and watching out for the temptations in life...And on forgiving, we must learn to forgive others -that is so important...Relationships are about love, and Jesus came and died for our sins just to forgive us of our sins...Jesus traveled around teaching about God, and while He did that, He also was forgiving people of their sins...Jesus is forgiving, always forgiving (us)...We must realize we sin and He came for sinners...So Jesus came to earth to forgive us of our sins...Then He died for our sins...Learning from Him, we should learn to forgive others...On why we should forgive others, Jesus says those that are able to forgive much learn to love much...He forgave us with His life and His death on the cross...We have much to be thankful for...And good relationships are all about love...
Being children of a Loving Father, we should both praise Him and thank Him...Thank Him for helping you to do what is morally right...Ask Him everyday to keep helping you in staying away from temptations...Ask Him to keep teaching you to know what is good and right -and to deliver us from the evil one...
Ask Him to continually to teach you more on forgiveness and the ability to love more and more neighbors...We must learn to forgive much, so that we can love much...The two great commandments are all about love -loving God and loving neighbor...So we need to talk to God as Jesus did, as a loving Father...We are children of a Loving Father, who wants to hear what we have to say and need...And I would bet a Father, any father likes to hear these words, I love you, Father...