Love First

​Step #1: Lectio / Read

Click the link below or open your Bible to the passage and read through the reading at least once, paying attention to what is happening in the text.

Exodus 20:1-17

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Step #2: Meditatio / Meditate

Use the following meditation to help you reflect more deeply on the Scripture (you may want to read the passage again).

In college a friend and I were discussing the Ten Commandments one night, as one does. He asked if I knew what came right before this passage in Exodus. I wasn't sure. I knew the commandments; I could even rattle them off in order - but I didn't know what came before.

Right before this episode the Israelites are delivered from slavery in Egypt. They had a profound experience of God in their lives, literally setting them free. Then they said to Moses, "How do we serve this God of yours?"

They had been enslaved in Egypt for 400 years so generations of Israelites had only seen how the Egyptians had served their many gods with Pharaoh being one of them.

Moses didn't have all the answers, the Scriptures weren't even written yet. So he goes to the top of the mountain to ask God how he and the people who were delivered should serve Him. Basically, "We know you love us; how do we love you in return?"

Moses comes back with the commandments. God said, "Here's how you love me."

I find this order to be curious because we tend to lead with the commandments. We start with the rules and then hope we'll encounter the Lord. But from the beginning it was not so. From the beginning it was love and encounter and salvation, then guidelines of how to love in return.

I'm not suggesting that if you don't have a relationship with the Lord you should go out and just start stealing and killing and coveting and lying. But I am suggesting that when we encounter people who don't know the Lord, we lead with the Good News that Jesus Christ became man, died on the cross, and rose again because he loves you and wants a relationship with you. 

Then we say, "here's how we love Him in return."

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Step #3: Oratio / Pray

These questions are to be used to talk to God; have a conversation with the Lord about these questions and what is going on in your heart as you pray today.

When you talk about the faith do you focus on all the rules or the love of Christ?

What's most difficult for you in following the Lord? 

How can you change your approach to sharing the faith to lead with the Lord's love?

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Step #4: Contemplatio / Contemplate

In this step, you listen. Stop talking, let God speak to your heart. You may repeat one of these short phrases to focus your mind on the Lord.

"I want to serve you Lord."

"I want to love you."

​"I want to love you the way you've asked me to."

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Step #5: Actio / Act

In light of today's reading and your time spent in prayer with the Lord, what concrete action or actions will you take to let this encounter with the Lord bear fruit in you today?

What's one thing you can do today to show people that God loves them beyond all measure?

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Smartphone Lock Screen

The following image is here for you to save and use as a background or lock screen on your smartphone or device to help you carry today's Lectio Divina with you the rest of the day.

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Today's prayer was prepared by ​Katie Herzing, a former youth minister turned parish evanglization consultant living in North Carolina.

If you have anything you'd like our team to pray for, please go to the page of our website called "Prayers" and let us know how we can pray for you today.