The Source

(No, this is not the farm described below -- but it's within the same time frame, 1953, but in Germany. This is from Wiki Commons)

Grace and Lawrence, my Dad’s sister and brother-in-law, had a dairy farm in southwestern Oklahoma. It had been Lawrence’s parents’ farm. He returned to run it when he was blinded in an accident. I cannot stress enough what a remarkable man he was to overcome such a physical handicap and run a successful dairy operation. I remember the “dark” rooms we had to go through to get to the milking area. One door would not open until the other closed so that no flies would find their way into the milking room. Lawrence was so gentle with the cows as he put on the milking machines to relieve pressure for his cows and provide milk for lots of families, including his own.

One of my cousins visited the farm as a child and wouldn’t drink a drop of milk while she was there. They went on to my grandmother’s home, again a country farm, on a much smaller scale, and she drank milk for every meal. When asked “Why?” the child explained:

“Aunt Grace gets her milk from dirty old cows. Grandma gets hers out of a well.” Yes, she did actually – the even temperature kept milk without using her icebox and a long rope served her well.

In a way, we’re the same as this cousin, misunderstanding the source of so much good. In our country, the government cannot establish a religion for the nation. That has been so misconstrued that our government can hardly acknowledge the source of much of our laws. They go back thousands of years.

Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's. (Exodus 20:12-17 KJV)

I believe there are no laws regarding honor for parents, and coveting is done daily through advertising. But the other four are on the books pretty much as Moses received them. They are more concise than Hammurabi’s code, and we have more of his than his predecessor, Ur-Nammu. Yes, Ur, as in the home Abraham left.

Does their existence negate the Ten Commandments in any way? I think not. God is the source of laws that should govern each of our lives. One portion of His law is spelled out in the first four Commandments, the second portion in the last six. Christ brought them together in one answer.

Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (Matthew 22:36-40 KJV)

We have written hundreds of thousands of pages of laws within our country alone. Each time a human finds a way to hurt his fellow man, a new law is put on the books in an attempt to keep that from happening again. Yet we continue to find new ways to circumvent these laws and new ones are written, when following the two Christ listed would solve our problems.

The source of these laws appear to be a problem to some people who do not wish to acknowledge the existence of a Creator who cares enough to provide for His creation. They prefer the cleaner-looking legalese that omits an intelligence beyond our comprehension.

Not for me. And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve … but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. (Joshua 24:15 KJV)