A twist on late night's top ten

I'm no fan of late night television. It comes on way past my bedtime and we banned television from the bedroom many years ago.

However, I have enjoyed replays of David Letterman Top Ten lists when I catch them on the early morning news programs. He always saves the best for last and I think he may be on to something.

The first and greatest commandment is this, Jesus said, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind." in Matthew 22:37.

Yipes. That is a tall, tall order. And I know, far beyond my all-too-human heart.

But with that statement, and the one that follows, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself," he condenses the whole of the Law given to Israel, into those two sentences.

But, can we do these two seemingly simple things? Or is it completely beyond us?

Time to apply the Letterman approach to the traditional Ten Commandments.

10 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife or anything belonging to your neighbor.

This commandment contains, I believe, the secret of contentment, a pleasant and peaceful abode for the mind. Satisfaction at the end of each day with what that day has brought and all that God has provided within it.

9 Thou shalt not bear false witness

This commandment elevates truth. There can be no justification for lies or gossip or bribery when this commandment is brought to bear. No false measures, no uneven scales.

8 Thou shalt not steal

What's mine is mine, a gift from God, for all good gifts come from him. By that measure, what's yours is yours and none can take it from you, it is a gift to you from God.

7 Thou shalt not commit adultery

Jesus expanded this commandment, forbidding even thoughts of marital infidelity. The marriage relationship is precious to the Lord God, so much so that he speaks of Christ as the Bridegroom and his followers as the Bride. There can be no more intimate relationship between two people than the one found in marriage. Only my husband knows and sees me at my very best and at my very worst, and I him, and yet each day, we choose to cover the multitude of our sins, individually and collectively, with love, thereby preserving the covenant between us made before God.

6 Thou shalt not murder

Life is precious to God, at its beginning and at its end. He is the creator of life and knows its beginning and its end. Even the sparrow is counted worthy of his notice when it falls. If I have but one wish to be granted to me in this lifetime, it would be that I would not be party to the death of another by any measure.

5 Honor thy father and thy mother

Jesus spoke of this one as well and modeled it well, for even on the cross, in his final agonies, he saw to his mother's earthly needs and support, assigning the disciple whom he loved to become her son in his place. He also upbraided the righteous of the day who had set aside their familial obligations by designating the support that they were due to God, calling it a gift to God.

"But you say that if a man says to his father or mother, 'Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is a gift devoted to God,' he is not to 'honor his father ' with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition." Matthew 15:5

4 Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy

We strive every day, at our jobs, in our homes and in the marketplace. Tasks await us as each day begins and many, too many, are left at each day's end. God says to us in this commandment, "Rest. Do no labor. Not you, nor your servants. Rest."

3 Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain

Think before you speak. Raising children in the latter part of the 20th century, they were exposed to language that had become wholly acceptable in our culture, most frequently, phrases like "Oh my God!" utilized to express even the smallest measure of astonishment. I would gently remind them of their lapse by asking, "Are you talking to him, or about him?" They understood that to mean that any other use of his name was inappropriate. Words matter; so much so that Jesus warned in Matthew 12: 36 and 37: "But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned."

2 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven or in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down to them, nor serve them, for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God...

Nothing is to take the place of the almighty God, therefore, we bow before no man, nor before any created image of a man, angel or animal. God created all and is above all, and all will bow before him, either in worship or in abject terror as is foretold in Isaiah 45: "By myself I have sworn, my mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not be revoked: Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear. They will say of me, 'In the LORD alone are righteousness and strength.' " All who have raged against him will come to him and be put to shame."

Which brings us back to where we began. Each of the preceding commandments leads us to a place in our hearts where we can, in fact, acknowledge God as Lord, and honor him and him alone: if we will start with contentment; cling to the truth; respect the property of others as if it were our own; learn faithfulness with and from our spouse; cherish life at every stage of life; honor those who sacrificed to give us life; rest in the Lord, who has become our Sabbath, and cease our constant striving for "just a little bit more"; honor the Lord with the words of our mouths; and serve only him; then perhaps, just perhaps, we will find ourselves keeping the greatest and first commandment, recognizing that God is, in fact, the Lord, our God, and there is none beside him.

"These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates." Deuteronomy 6:6-9 (NIV)