Remember the story about God parting the Red Sea? I think most of us do… it was practically told a million times in Sunday school. So here is a basic summary:

• After the passover, the Israelites left Egypt with everything they could carry.
• God promises them he will lead them to the land of the Canaanites.
• God lead them toward the Red Sea, a path they were not familiar with so they could not turn around. He led them with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.
• When the king of Egypt was told they they had fled, he took six hundred chariots and went after the Israelites.
• Once the Israelites saw the Egyptians approaching, they cried to Moses with no trust for the Lord.
• The Lord told Moses to stretch his staff out over the sea and it will divide. He did as he was told and they made their way across the sea floor.
• As the Egyptians began to follow, Moses stretched his hand out over the sea and the waters returned - drowning every single Egyptian.
• The Israelites made their way from the Red Sea toward the Wilderness. Along the way they faced many problems: lack of food, lack of clean water, and attacks.
• Each time they complained to Moses. Each time Moses asked God what to do and God provided and protected.
• They came to the wilderness of Sinai. And there God proclaimed the ten commandments.

I know this sounds bad, but I tend to forget about the ten commandments… or more like forget about their importance. They seem to be so straight forward. It’s like I say “Well Duh, Lord!” in my head. But they are extremely important and we should be reminded of them from time to time. They are the words of God and should be followed.

The Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:3-17)

1. You shall have no other gods before me.
2. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. (How amazing is this? God loves us so much that he becomes jealous. And he has a right to be… he’s God!)
3. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.
4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates.
5. Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
6. You shall not murder.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
10. You shall not covet (cov·et- to desire wrongfully, inordinately, or without due regard for the rights of others) your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male servant or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything else that is your neighbor’s.

Godspeed.