Posted on: Saturday, February 19, 2005

EXPRESSIONS OF FAITH
God wrote his love for us in stone

By the Rev. Dr. Rick Bartosik

For centuries, when the calendar turned to February, people have started thinking of love. The most powerful expressions of God's love for us in all of Scripture are the Ten Commandments. They originally were given by God out of a heart of love to people he had delivered from the horrors of slavery.

It may be surprising to hear the Ten Commandments described as a message of love from the very heart of God. Most people think the opposite. They think of the Ten Commandments as a set of rules to rob us of the things in life that are fun and enjoyable.

But when we examine the context in which they were given, we discover that they really are a love letter from God. Ron Mehl, in his book, "The Ten(der) Commandments," appropriately has called them a "valentine written in stone."

Just before the giving of the Ten Commandments, God said: "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery" (Exodus 20:1). He was reminding his people of what they had been, slaves, trapped, with no place to go and no hope for the future. But God heard their cries and saw their tears; and in his love for them, he says, "I carried you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself" (Exodus 19:4). Like a mother eagle that swoops down to rescue her little eaglet, God came in love to save them.

What God is saying in the context of the Ten Commandments is, "I love you and I want the best for you. I have proven my love for you by delivering you from bondage in Egypt. Now I am giving you this 'covenant of love' (I Kings 8:23) as an expression of my desire that you live a life filled with joy and happiness in fellowship with me."

The Ten Commandments are still God's expression of love for us today. They are 10 ways to direct us, 10 standards to live by, 10 ways to nurture a lasting love relationship with God. They reflect the character and nature of a loving God who wants to protect us from danger and provide the best in life for those he loves.

God knows a little bit more than we do about the dangers of some of the choices we face in life, and he really wants us to go through life with all of his blessings. When the commandments richly dwell in our hearts, their truth will revive us and set us free to be all we were meant to be.

The Rev. Dr. Rick Bartosik is senior pastor of Mililani Community Church and an instructor in Bible and theology at International College and Graduate School. He formerly served as a correctional chaplain in Hawai'i.