FOR SALE: Guidelines to Life

Posted September 14, 2007

Piece of wood for a plaque…$4. Gold plating to cover the wood…$7. The Ten Commandments written on the plaque…priceless. Or is it? How much is the law of God worth to you?

A commentary by Zach Smith

Sifting through the items at a local garage sale this spring, I came across the deal of a lifetime. What seemed to me a priceless possession was labeled with a little white sticker that read $2. It wasn't a useless gadget or an old knickknack, although there were plenty to be found. It wasn't just another garage sale junk item; it was the very law of God.

Amid this pile of "junk" was a plaque inscribed with the Ten Commandments, our God-given guidelines to a successful life. I was rather shocked to find it—especially marked only $2—as if it wasn't worth more.

This brought the question to my mind, "How much is God's law worth to me?" Definitely more than $2, I knew that. In fact…it is priceless.

But what if I couldn't set the price? There is, of course, no price that would be enough. What if I couldn't physically take a pen and mark "Not for Sale" on it? Instead, what if my actions, thoughts and feelings spoke for me? Would they say "not for sale,' or would they set a price on God's law—maybe even a price of only $2?

It is often said that actions speak louder than words. So what are we saying? Are we proclaiming that God's law is priceless to us by the way we keep it?

What about thoughts? How much time do we actually spend thinking about God's law? Do we check our actions with God's law to make sure they are in accordance with it?

On to feelings…God is the only one who truly knows how we feel about something. He can see the intent of our hearts and the depth of our obedience. He is the only one who can really read what our spiritual price tag says. How we think and act is important, but if our obedient actions are done begrudgingly, we are putting a price on God's law.

God doesn't want us to obey Him only because we have to or because the price is right. He wants us to obey because we love Him and His law. The men who wrote the Psalms loved the law of God. They showed that by how they lived, but they also put it into beautiful words for us. "The law of Your mouth is better to me than thousands of coins of gold and silver" (Psalm 119:72). There was no $2 price tag on God's law for the psalmist. Psalm 119 is filled with "not for sale' tags, so to speak.

For a good overview of God's law as the absolute moral code of the universe, take time to read "Join the Few, the Called, the Chosen."

Keeping God's law can be challenging at times. We all fail and fall short, but how we react to those shortcomings shows how much God's law is worth to us. Instead of giving up and selling off God's law, let your actions speak loud and clear. Let them say, "God's law is priceless to me," and let your price tag read boldly "NOT FOR SALE.' VT