Unchanging

I have been swamped with so many things lately I feel the Lord has been calling me to do for Him. It has been challenging and exciting and, in truth, sometimes a bit overwhelming. But God's grace has been sufficient and He blessed most of the things, and most of them are completed, and a few new ones have come up. Cryptic, I know, but really, the details are not exciting, only the fact that He is unchanging and able to do and provide even more than I could ever think of or hope for.

One thing I always thought unchangeable was the Ten Commandments. How surprised I was the other day when I was studying in an old book I purchased my Mom a few years before she passed away. It is Luther's Small Catechism. She had misplaced her origional copy and wanted to have another. Recently, I have been working to understand where my sister (and Mom) are/were in their Christian walk. Both of them were confirmed in the Luthern Church, both of them memorizing the Smaller Catechism of that denomination. (My family left church when I was 9 and I never went through the confirmation process.) There are some areas of common ground, some areas of what may appear to be common ground with the Westminster Catechism in theory, but in the way it is lived out and taught, no common gound. I hope to talk with her about it soon, but I wanted to be familiar with what would be her base of understanding Scripture.

What suprised me was, well, see if you can figure it out:
The Ten Commandments
The First Table:
1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me
2. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord, thy God, in vain
3. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy

The Second Table
4. Thou shalt honor thy father and thy mother, that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth
5. Thou shalt not kill
6. Thou shalt not commit adultery
7. Thou shalt not steal
8. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor
9. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house
10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his cattle, nor anuthing that is thy neighbor's.

I read again Exodus 20:1-17 and am not sure how Luther compiled the Ten Commandments in this form. I will continue to believe that "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything" is the opening to the second commandment, but am interested, considering Luther's stand on indulgences, why he would mess with that commandment particularly.

At any rate, I am finally in 1 John and hoping to make it to Revelation before year end. I think I can see a possibility of that, so long as I don't get lost in my researching things as I read. It is fun and a blessing, but I tend to make really slow progress.

For all of you who are taking finals, I will be praying for you, as always. If you want me to pray specifically for you, please leave me a comment and I promise to lift you up in prayer. I can't go to China, but I can pray!!!