Tuesday, October 21, 2003
Tuesday, October 21, 2003
I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the
house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me.
Killinger says that's what the Ten Commandments are all about. God has said these are the
trouble spots in life. Avoid these and you won't snag your plow. Young people, if you wonder why
your parents put so many restrictions on you sometimes, remember that they are trying to help
you avoid some snags, some trouble spots and some heartache. In some cases they don't want
to see you make the same tragic mistakes they have made or someone they love has made.
(Exodus 20.2-3
NRSV)
John Killinger once used the example of Sarah Orne Jewett's novel, THE COUNTRY OF THE
POINTED FIRS. In that novel, a woman notices a number of painted wooden stakes around the
property of a retired sea captain, Elijah Tilley. She asks the captain why those wooden stakes
are driven in the ground. Tilley tells her that when he first bought the farm and plowed the
ground, every once in a while his plow would snag on a large rock underneath the surface of the
ground. These snags not only slowed his progress, but dulled his plow. So he put up stakes to
show where the underground rocks were located, so he could avoid them.
God of the Ten Commandments, may they always be my sign to follow, as I honor you and
those I love. Amen.
