Johnny and his mother had been over to see Grandmother. As they walked down the street, they passed the beautiful new church with colored glass windows. The sun shone on the glass and made it sparkle like gems of many colors.
“Would you like to go in and see the new church?” Mother asked.
Of course, Johnny wanted to see inside the church, so they walked quietly through the front door and sat down in one of the pews.
“Johnny, can you see God’s ten commandments carved in white marble hanging on the wall in the front of the church?”
“Let’s go up closer,” Johnny whispered. They walked softly toward the front. “What are commandments, Mother?” he asked.
“God made some very wonderful rules a long time ago,” Mother explained. “He wrote them with His own finger on two tables of stone. They are called the ten commandments.”
“Did God write those on the wall with His finger?” wondered Johnny, pointing to the white marble slab.
“No, dear, this is a copy of the ones He wrote. You will find them in the Bible, for God wanted them to be kept where people could find them and read them. He wanted men to obey them.”
“Read God’s rules to me,” begged Johnny.
“All right, son, when we get home I’ll read them to you from the Bible.”
Johnny and his mother went out of the church and walked on toward home. “Johnny, you know rules are very important,” said Mother. “God made the world according to certain rules or laws. A farmer has seeds to plant, but until he puts the seeds in the ground they will not grow. It is a rule of nature that seeds must be put in the ground and given water and sunshine so that they will sprout and grow. If you plant wheat seed, what will come up?”
“Wheat,” replied Johnny.
“If you plant beans, what will come up?” his mother asked again.
“Beans!”
“That is another rule of nature. Seeds always grow to be like the plants from which they came,” Mother went on.
“God made rules so that this world would be a happy place in which to live. God does not make us obey His rules; He allows us to decide whether we will obey or not. If we love Him, we will want to obey Him. We are the happiest when we obey God’s rules.”
When Johnny and Mother got home, they sat down on the lounge together. Mother took her Bible and read the ten commandments from Exodus 20.
“I like to hear you read the commandments, Mother,” said Johnny as she finished reading. “Tell me some more about them.”
“All right, son,” Mother agreed. “God spoke the commandments from the top of a high mountain peak called Mount Sinai. Moses and the people of Israel heard the wonderful words. The people of Israel had camped at the foot of Mount Sinai on their journey from Egypt to their new home, which they called ‘the promised land.’ They had been slaves in Egypt, but now they were to be a free people.
“God told Moses, the leader, to climb to the top of Mount Sinai while the people waited below. The mountain peak was covered with clouds, and the people could not see Moses as he went up the steep path. When Moses got to the top, he heard the voice of God above the winds:
“ ‘I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt.’
“Then God gave the ten commandments to Moses. God wrote them on two tables of stone which Moses had brought with him. The laws were for all the people of the world. God’s ten rules or commandments have lived for hundreds and hundreds of years, and they will continue to live forever. The ten commandments show all people how to love God and how to love others.
“Wouldn’t you like to learn God’s rules, Johnny?” Mother asked.
“Oh, yes,” he exclaimed; “please teach them to me.”
“I will help you learn the first one now,” Mother replied.
God’s Ten Rules, Ethel M. Neff, ©1948, 7–13