Read in your Bible: Exodus 20
Christians are accustomed to seeing the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20 as part of the law, God’s strictures that set the boundary for right behavior. To look at the Ten Commandments purely as a list of “thou-shalt-nots” is to miss the greater contrast. When they receive the commandments in Exodus 20, the Israelites have recently left Egypt, where every dimension of their lives was controlled by the system of slavery. Egyptians owned their work, their time, and their bodies. The Israelites were punished for even existing.
In the Ten Commandments, God provides a framework for a different kind of society, one built on freedom: freedom from deception, freedom from unfaithfulness, freedom from ownership, and freedom from the compulsion to worship false gods. Because the Israelites find great joy in their newfound freedom, the Ten Commandments are guidelines for preserving that joy by creating a new system of faithfulness, a new pattern for a just society that protects each person’s dignity.
Joy is always a liberating force. Joy can thrive even in captivity, but joy isn’t content to remain captive. Joy works toward our freedom and the freedom of our neighbors.
Each day this week, you are invited to consider something that contributes to your own personal sense of captivity, be it social forces, relationships, decisions, or even your own body. You will contemplate how you might have found joy in these circumstances. But you won’t be asked to remain captive. You will also reflect on how God seeks to break the power of that which binds God’s people.