Award-winning Publishers Weekly Best-selling Author

Broken Rules

by | May 20, 2013 | , | Still True Today | 20 comments

Murray read his email for the fifth time, scrutinizing every word. It required perfection. He couldn’t have the workers twisting any of it to suit their own agendas. Due to recent behavioral problems with some employees, the CEO asked Murray to come up with a list of top ten rules.

“They need to be kept in line,” he said.

Does he think these rules won’t be broken? Seriously?

Murray’s fingers hovered over the keyboard. Was it complete? Sighing, he clicked send, printed the email, and headed down the steep stairs.

Time to face the grumblers. Let’s hope they obey.

If not, there will be consequences.

Rules were meant to be broken. Is this saying true? Why do we make them only to turn around and break them? Good question. We need some type of boundaries.

Should we break the Ten Commandments? After all, they’re just a set of rules, right?

No, absolutely not. Never.

But do we?

Yes. All the time. Even Christians.

Gasp!

Hear me out.

Obviously, I’m not talking about some commandments—don’t commit murder, steal, commit adultery, etc.

I’m referring to the less subtle ones. Let’s take a look at these commands God gave Moses on top of Mount Sinai. After all, they weren’t just for the Israelites.

You shall have no other gods before me. When we think of gods, what comes to mind? A golden calf? Statue of Buddha? Thor? In my opinion, these “gods” can consist of anything that takes us away from worshiping the one true God. That could be a person, a TV show, video games, socializing, etc. Don’t get me wrong, these aren’t horrible things, but if they steal all our time and we forget about God, then aren’t we worshiping them? I think we’ve all broken this commandment before. How about we think about what gods are in our lives and get rid of them?

You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God. Okay, this one gets to me because it’s broken all the time. Oh My God (OMG). Jesus Christ. Okay, I try and not use my blog as a soapbox, but what’s so difficult about the meaning behind this one? I don’t get it. “Oh My God” is taking the Lord’s name in vain! Enough said.

obeyHonor your father and your mother. Oh dear. I broke this one quite a bit when I was little. I sassed my mom too much! Just ask my siblings. 😀 (or, maybe don’t!) Are we thankful for our parents? Do we talk about them behind their backs? Do we disobey or disrespect them? These are all things to think about in keeping this commandment. God included it for a reason—let’s remember that.

You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. Do we try and keep up with the Joneses of this world? You betcha. That’s part of the reason why there is so much debt today. We have to buy the latest gadgets, fanciest cars, biggest houses…all because our neighbor can’t “one up” us. I believe this speaks about more than material things. Are we jealous of our friend’s gifts, physical appearance, jobs, etc? Let’s admit it. We all have broken this rule at one point or another.

I could go on, but I think we get the picture. We haven’t kept all of the Ten Commandments. Why don’t we take them seriously? They’re from God. Shame on us. How about we search our hearts? I know I’m going to.

After all, these rules were not meant to be broken.

What do you think? Are there other commandments we break? Am I wrong? Sound off in the comments section.

Exodus 19:20 (NIV)

“The Lord descended to the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain.”

Up to the Mountain (by Patti Griffin)

Love Kree Harrison’s version of this song. I immediately thought of Moses going up to the mountain and had to use this song. Will we go up to the mountain and listen to His voice and obey Him?

20 Comments

  1. Diane Spearing

    You never cease to amaze me at your timing of your blog. I have tears rolling down my cheeks….. When we obey God we have peace. Even in the loneliness we can have peace. I love you so much Dar and you too Sue….

    Reply
    • Darlene L. Turner

      Thanks Di. I write what God lays on my heart and leave the rest to Him. I struggled a bit with writing these truths, but the comments I’ve already received have confirmed them. So, why do I doubt? Shame on me!! Thank you for your comments. Love you too xoxoxo

      Reply
  2. henrymclaughlin

    Darlene, Thank you for this awesome blog. I so appreciate the reminder things can become idols and block our relationship with God.

    Reply
    • Darlene L. Turner

      Hi Henry!!! It’s a tough one, isn’t it? Sometimes I get so wrapped up in what I have to do that I forget to worship Him. That “stuff” becomes my idol. I appreciate you stopping by!

      Reply
  3. susan steeves

    WOW…WOW…WOW.. What piercing truth…and such a powerful song…You do amaze me sissy…Our God on that mountain has blessed you with this gift…keep using it… I love you you too and you also Diane miss you both!

    Reply
    • Darlene L. Turner

      Isn’t that song great? I knew when Kree sang it that I needed to use it! What? No comment re sassing Mom from you, Sissy? ha ha! 😀 I appreciate your encouraging words.

      Reply
  4. Prof. Godel Fishbreath

    I have struggled with ‘honor your parents’, not because of mine, but of others. How would you honor a drunk?
    I think we should look deeper than the sass/no-sass stuff. That is so minor, and can be a form of love. And I know that there are people that are not good parents, the news makes us too aware of them. How could anyone respect such?
    Maybe we should respect what they should be, what they try in most cases to be. Mary and Joe might have been perfect parents, the RCC thinks so. But most of us fall short, with a long learning curve, and the results known in 15 years and no way to correct errors.
    But respect them by being the best that you can be, given their and your limitations. And respect them by finding virtues in them and honoring what you can. Yes, my folks were decent people, not like Precious’ mother (remember that movie?). What could Precious respect in her mother, even as her mother twists her life into a living hell? That her mother cares? Maybe that is all one can do.

    Reply
  5. Jennifer

    You’re spot on, Darlene. The one that hits me in the face constantly is “Keep the Sabbath Day holy.” I think even most Christians have forgotten what the Sabbath is for – the whole day, not just an hour or two. And especially not “let’s go to church Saturday evening so we can go to the mall (or watch football) on Sunday!” *getting off soapbox now*

    Then there are the ones that aren’t do-or-don’t, like love one another, turn the other cheek, etc. As I come to know the Lord more and more, my understanding gets deeper and hopefully I become more in line with what He wants for me.

    Thanks for a great post.

    Reply
    • Darlene L. Turner

      I agree with you Jennifer. I have to admit there are times when I don’t keep it as holy as I should. And…turning the other cheek is hard at times, isn’t it? Don’t you find some people are getting ruder and ruder? Yikes. Thanks for stopping by and giving your comments.

      Reply
  6. Prof. Godel Fishbreath

    Depending on how you number the ten, you will have a different ten for each religion. By the stated rules you can pick the religion that states them.
    My Jewish friends say that the 10 go from one that you can not disobey, to one that is impossible to obey. I forget their numbering, and Hear o Israel the Lord, you God is One could be their 1. But not to covet? very hard, takes years of meditation, and often even then not achieved.

    Reply
    • Darlene L. Turner

      Thanks for your comments. You’re right….it’s very hard not to covet at times. Something that will take a lifetime of learning! I appreciate you stopping by.

      Reply
  7. Prof. Godel Fishbreath

    The Israelites got over 600 commands. We acknowledge maybe 10 of them. The rest? check out Peter’s dream, check out Jesus fulfilling all of them, check out us not having to live under laws that prohibit milk and steak being served at the same meal. Check out what the ultraconservative Kosher keeping Jew considers to be commandments, many we break. Actually the Jews consider the Noah’s commandments to be binding on all peoples, and thus many are breaking those in ignorance. I think not drinking blood is one, though right now I am as ignorant as any,. Religion can be fun.

    Unbreakable rules? Mostly engineering and math ones. I love Kipling, and he has a list of rules in a poem that has a completely different point than that list.
    http://www.kipling.org.uk/poems_strain.htm
    Forgive him for ‘gods’ not God, please.

    Reply
  8. debbiebrooks37

    What a wonderful blog.. I will share this with my Christina brother and sisters on Facebook Prayer request page.. God Bless you my dear.. Keeping spreading the truth.
    Debbie

    Reply
    • Darlene L. Turner

      Hi Debbie. I appreciate you sharing my blog. God bless you too!

      Reply
  9. Loretta Eidson

    Gear post Dar, guess I’d better quit using OMG. I thought that meant “Oh My Gosh” otherwise I’d never use it. Hmm, guess that means we should know the correct meaning of initials before we do as others. Ouch!

    Reply
    • Darlene L. Turner

      I’ve seen some people use OMG as OMGosh. 😀 Thanks for stopping by, Loretta!

      Reply
      • Loretta Eidson

        Ha! My original reply was supposed to say “Great post.” You’ve got to love small keys on the iPhone and auto spell. Personally, I like rules. This way I know what’s expected of me. It doesn’t mean I don’t mess up, I’m just glad we have a forgiving God!

        Reply
  10. Mary Haskett

    Darlene,
    I’ve expressed the same opinions many times. Worship of sports stars, film stars, pop stars and all the rest is prevalent in society today! Interesting how that label “star” is applied to these people. They do not know that Jesus is the Bright & Morning Star? And then of course, “idol” is a more recent tag for the singing population. O may people come to know that God said , “Thou shalt have no other gods but me.”

    Reply
    • Darlene L. Turner

      Amen, Mary! You’re right…Jesus is the only Star we should be worshiping! Thanks for stopping by and commenting. God bless.

      Reply

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