"On the 12th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...Ten Lords A-Leaping"
During this Christmas, our prayers have centered around one of the gifts appearing in the song, The Twelve Days of Christmas. Some say each of the "days" represents some aspect of the Christian faith that was important for new believers to learn.
And, it is said that the Ten Lords A-Leaping represents the Ten Commandments: (Exodus 20:1-17).
Let's face it. Not many of us are huge fans of rules. As children we start off with a list of "no-no's" like don't touch the stove, don't touch the iron, don't touch the candle, don't touch the heater.
Eventually even the most stubborn child (who, me?) catches on to the great principle: I get it: don't touch the hot stuff! Once the child gets the main idea, he/she doesn't need the long list of "no-no's".
While working with a children's group who were learning about the Ten Commandments, I asked which of the Ten Commandments Jesus said was the greatest (Matthew 22:36-40). The group looked confused because it seemed that Jesus' response did not refer to any of the Ten Commandemnts there were studying. So we dug a little deeper...
God gave the Ten Commandments to Moses as a foundation of law for nation of Israel. When Jesus began his ministry over a thousand years later, he was asked with was the greatest. Without hesitation, Jesus answered "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all our mind and with all your strength." Then He added, "And the second is this, Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these."
Jesus took the Ten Commandments and condensed them down to two even simpler rules: Love God (Commandments 1-4) and love others (Commandments 5-10). So like the child's list of "no-no's", our list was shortened to two simple to understand rules to live by.
The teaching of Jesus NEVER contradicted the Ten Commandments. He reinforced them.
This Christmas season, I pray we redeicate ourselves to living by the Ten Commandments as viewed through the lens of love: Love God, Love Others!
Submitted by Fritzi Simon, Crossroads District Co-Lay Leader
