Doing What God Does - Exodus 20:1-3

"Then God gave the people all these instructions: I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery. You must not have any other god but me." This verse is the preamble and the first of the Ten Commandents in 20:1-17. The Ten Commandments are a brief statement or executive summary of the expanded terms of God's covenant with the Israelites in 21:1-23:33. The terms of the covenant specified the behavior the Israelites were expected to manifest if they were to be in a covenant with God. Only the first four commandments (vs. 2-11) related directly to God, while the remaining six commandments (vs. 12-17) described appropriate human-to-human relationships. Because God is profoundly ethical, He expects His people to manifest his character in their relationship with Him and in relationships with other human beings. Thus, to be in covenant with God is to do what God does. "So Jesus explained, I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son does also" (John 5:10). As people who are in covenant with God, we can know what God is doing and do what He does by studying His Word, the Bible, and by obeying the guidance and direction of His Holy Spirit Who is with us and dwells in us.