You shall not murder
My oldest child is now 66 years of age. I remember the day he was born. I witnessed his birth. A few days before, his mother and I had made a trip to the hospital but when we went back home afterwards, there were three of us. Birth of a human being may be perfectly understandable, but to me it seemed more like a miracle. There had been two of us in the family, but suddenly there were three. That same miracle was repeated again and again until there were five children. We had become a family of seven. I still see each of my children as miraculous creations of God.
How many people are in the world. Last time I checked, I was told there are now seven billion people living in this world. Every one of those billions of people are precious in the Lord’s sight. They have rights, and the most precious right of all is the right to live. We fellow humans do not have the right to take away the life. We did not create and we have no right to take lives.
The animal world lives by instinct, but humans are different. As the Bible says, we are made in God’s image. We have mind, will and emotion. We make decisions. We interact with our fellow humans, guided by morality of some kind. If I willfully take the life of someone, I have put myself in the place of God, deciding who shall no longer be allowed to live.
It is natural, then, that the Ten Commandments, God’s moral law, should include the prohibition of murder. God says to each of us very plainly: “Do not murder.”
Each of the Ten Commandments speaks for itself, but Jesus filled them with meaning by showing us that the breaking of God’s Commandments begins in our hearts. Many times the murder happens because the hatred was so strong. The murder began in the heart. The same is true with the other commandments. We must start at the beginning place if we want to live a moral life, and that’s in the heart. Our actions result from our thoughts.
During his last night on earth before being crucified, Jesus commanded us, “Love one another.” If we all knew the Lord and loved each other, there would be no murders.
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
1. You shall have no other gods before Me.
2. You shall not make idols.
3. You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.
4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
5. Honor your father and your mother.
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.