Ten Commandments: Getting to the heart of things

We arrive at the final command of the ten commandments, and it’s unique among the ten because of one thing: It’s the only one that deals with the inner thoughts of the heart. 

With the other nine, it’s dealing with mostly outward actions: Not worshiping other gods.  Not making idols.  Not taking God’s name in vain.  Keeping the Sabbath, and so on.

But in the tenth command, God tells the people, “It’s not enough to just not commit adultery.  You are not to even covet your neighbor’s wife. 

“It’s not enough to just not steal.  You are not to even covet what your neighbor has.”

God is not interested merely that our actions are right, but that our hearts are too. 

Jesus goes into even more detail in the Sermon on the Mount. 

Jesus said, “It’s not enough that you don’t murder someone.  You are not even to hold anger in your hearts toward them. 

“It’s not enough that you don’t commit adultery.  You are not to lust after a woman either.”

Why is this so important to God? 

It’s because more than anything else, he wants our hearts. 

So many times, God got frustrated with Israel because while they did the outward forms of worship, they didn’t give him their hearts. 

Jesus was equally frustrated with the Pharisees, who on the outside were righteous, keeping the letter of the law, but who on the inside were utterly corrupt. 

He told them,

Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!

You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean.  (Matthew 23:27)

What about us?  Do we act outwardly righteous, while on the inside we are filled with dead men’s bones? 

Do our hearts truly belong to God? 

Or are we only pretending? 

We may deceive others, but we cannot deceive God.

Lord, let my heart truly belong to you.  You know that there are a lot of dead bones in there.  Take them out. 

I don’t want to be a pretender.  I want my heart to be truly yours. 

I struggle so much with that.  Please change me from the inside, by your power and by your grace. In Jesus’ name, amen.