The Ten Commandments Applied to the I-Generation

I know commandments restricting any behavior are out these days.  I know what's in is counseling removing any shame.  I know youth think anything is allowable except someone telling you certain things are not allowed.  I know what ails kids these days needs to be treated with prescription medication, not prescribed meditation.  I know only churches with wicked youth pastors with tattoos and sweet auditoriums with rock bands have any right to be heard (by the way, "wicked" is not a bad word, older readers, for it means cool).  I know it's narrow minded, the height of arrogance really, to think there is only one way to believe and that you actually know it.

But I also know that God's commandments do not change.  I know they were written on stone tablets by His finger.  I know they are to be written on Christian hearts by His Spirit (Hebrews 8:10).  I know that after his time on the mount receiving the commandments, the great Old Testament prophet Moses gave vivid explanation and application following them.  And I know that from His seat on a mount, the greater final prophet Jesus did the same.

The Ten Commandments have not been overturned or gone out of style.  Youth need them more than ever in the topsy-turvy world we live.  In a sentence each, here's how a young person might consider applying them today:

1. Do nothing that would let any music group, false religion, sports star, electronic gadget or a dating relationship interfere with loving the Lord Jesus Christ with all your heart.
2. Since worship is not about pleasing yourself but God, do not let it be your own ideas but Scripture that informs you as to what is appropriate in His presence.
3. Never use the name of Jesus in a cursing, casual or careless manner, for He is listening and will hold you accountable.
4. You have six days to get everything else done, so begin your week by using its first day to remember that the Lord made you and saved you.
5. As you ready yourself to go to college, embark on a career, or start a family, you need the counsel of your parents more than ever to keep from making tragic decisions that will ruin or even shorten your life.
6. Abortion, euthanasia, and suicide are not God's way out of difficult life situations.
7. Having sex with your boyfriend or girlfriend, watching online pornography, or participating in homosexuality is wicked in the old-fashioned sense of the word.
8. Cutting and pasting someone's work into a paper without references, copying or downloading a movie or CD without permission, or using someone else's prescription medication will not only get you in trouble, it's just plain wrong.
9. The things you text, chat about, or post anywhere online about others have the potential to be seen all over the world, so do not say things you would not want to be said about you.
10. Being jealous of friends on Facebook, gazing longingly at an I-gadget you do not need, and wishing you were the next American Idol just prove you have American idols.
    Jesus did not come to abolish the law, but to establish it.  He did not come to make you less righteous than a Pharisee, but more so.  He did not come to make you feel better about sleeping around, but make you feel worse about even thinking about it.  Read Matthew 5-7:12 and see for yourself.

I know I said "I know" at least thirteen times in this blog.  That's what I used to say all the time when I was young.  Yet  I really did not know.  Do you of the I-Generation really know that to love Jesus is to obey His commandments?