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Friday, September 4 - Devotional from Pastor John

September 4, 2020 by Rev. John Hartman

“That’s a Wrap!”

When the filming of the final scene of a movie is completed, the director will often yell, “Cut! Print it! That’s a wrap!” Today concludes my summer series on the Ten Commandments. I sure hope you have enjoyed listening to them (or reading about them) as much as I have enjoyed sharing them with you. Just make sure it doesn’t end there. Don’t tuck them away on a shelf some place in your home, where it is out of sight, out of mind. Instead, embrace them, and ask God to give you the strength to faithfully live them out in your daily lives.

And when you think of the ten commandments, don’t think of them as a list, but think of them as a gold chain, that is linked together in a circle, in which the key link of that chain is the first commandment. That first commandment is the one that opens up all the other commandments. If we put God first in our lives: Then, we are not going to need any cheap imitations or idols. We are not going to hollow out God’s name of meaning. We are going to keep God’s day holy. We are going to honor our parents as God’s stand-ins here on earth. We are not ever going to think about taking the life of one of his beloved creatures. We are not going to cheat on our spouses. We are not going to take things that don’t belong to us. We are not going to soil the reputation of our neighbor. And we are going to be CONTENT with the life that God has given us. So, make sure that first link is strong and secure, and hold on tight to it.

Joy Davidman, the wife of C.S. Lewis wrote, “Smoke On The Mountain,” a commentary on the Ten Commandments. She finishes her book by saying, “There is, in the last analysis, only one way to stop covetousness and the destruction of body and soul that spring from covetousness, and that is to want God so much that we can’t be bothered with inordinate wants for anything else.”

The greatest antidote for covetousness is a passion for Jesus Christ. That’s what Paul means when he says, “Set your mind on things above, and not on earthly things” (Colossians 3:2). And the best news of all is that God didn’t just hand us these laws and say, “Good luck.” But, God comes to live inside of us in the power of the Holy Spirit today. And whenever we stumble and fall, which we all do, God is there to pick us up, dust us off, and put us back on the path, to help us keep on keeping on. So with that said, I will conclude with, “Cut! Print it! That’s a wrap!”

Pastor John Hartman

Quote of the Week

Now by this we may be sure that we know him, if we obey his commandments. Whoever says, “I have come to know him,” but does not obey his commandments, is a liar, and in such a person the truth does not exist; but whoever obeys his word, truly in this person the love of God has reached perfection. By this we may be sure that we are in him:whoever says, “I abide in him,” ought to walk just as he walked.

I John 2:3-6