The Eleventh Commandment

1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
3. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
4. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy .
5. Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
6. Thou shalt not kill .
7. Thou shalt not commit adultery .
8. Thou shalt not steal .
9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.

   The foundation of God's law.  It is simple and elegant.  I don't know what compelled me to use the King James Version but for some reason it sounded right.  Perhaps it is the poetry that so eloquently elaborates what is said here.  This is the will of God.  I see people get lost in the rest of the Law all the time, trying to justify what they are doing by picking and choosing what parts to use and what not to.  However, this is it! This is the cornerstone upon which righteousness is built.  Without these principals there is chaos and pain.  The land suffers and people wail.  Boil it all down and there you go. 

   Jesus added an eleventh commandment to that list, one that sums up all the Law.  A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  (NIV John 13:34)  Nowhere in that list do I see anything about hating another ethnicity.  There is nothing about hating gays.  There is not a word about going to war with Muslims.  I don't see anything about stoning women who have sex out of wedlock.  All I see is a brilliant list of things that any person should strive for.  This, in my opinion, is the cobblestone that paves our way into the glory of Heaven.  Don't get my wrong, there is a lot of other goodness in the Bible as well.  We should give generously, for example, but these eleven things are the pillar of our faith.  Even if you aren't a follower of Christ this list shouldn't be hard for you to understand.  Be kind to one another, love one another, take joy in one another.  Anyone who hates, does not love.  Anyone who hates, defies the eleventh commandment.  Anyone who hates, defies Jesus.  You get to choose where you stand.