Ten Words to Live By: Delighting in and Doing What God Commands

Bible teacher Wilkin (Women of the Word) considers the significance of the Ten Commandments within modern culture in this fresh, insightful analysis. In each chapter, she focuses on one of God’s commandments, suggests verses for meditation, and poses questions for reflection. For instance, when considering the commandment to “honor your father and your mother,” she suggests readers turn to Psalm 90:12 (“teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom”) and asks, “What shortcoming might you forgive [your parents] in your heart?” She explains that justice and compassion go hand in hand with strong communal relationships: “Without rules, our hopes of healthy relationship vanish in short order. Jesus did not put rules against relationship.” Noting Jesus taught followers to pray “on earth as it is in heaven,” Wilkin illustrates how Christians can apply the Ten Commandments to their daily lives by, among other things, employing encouraging words, pursuing a life of honesty and truth, and taking “marriage and sexual purity as seriously as God does.” For Wilkin, the faith and commitment that is ultimately pleasing to God must begin in the heart. This concise, informative study will encourage Christians to think deeply about the ethical underpinnings of the Ten Commandments. (Mar.)