The Two Roads Before Every Soul
Finding True Happiness God's Way. Yes, The Father Has A Good Way For You.
He Has Given Us The Ten Commandments, And He Has Given Us Jesus.
“Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who delights greatly in His commandments.” — Psalm 1 nkjv
The word blessed in Scripture can also be translated deeply happy, favored, or truly flourishing. Every human being longs for that kind of life. We all want peace instead of guilt, purpose instead of emptiness, and hope instead of despair.
Yet the Bible teaches that there are only two roads.
Jesus said:
“Enter by the narrow gate... because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” — Gospel of Matthew 7:13–14
One road leads to eternal life with God. The other leads to destruction and everlasting separation from Him. One road ends in joy; the other in regret. One is marked by obedience and faith; the other by rebellion and self-rule.
There is no third path.
“There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, ‘Thy will be done.’” ~ C.S. Lewis
Everything Your Heart Is Searching For Is Found in the Father's House
Many people assume that Christianity is restrictive, joyless, and dull. They imagine that God exists merely to spoil our fun.
But the opposite is true.
Sin promises freedom and delivers slavery. Christ calls us to surrender and gives us life.
Jesus illustrated this in the parable of the prodigal son (Gospel of Luke 15:11–24). The young man believed happiness lay far from his father's house. He chased pleasure, independence, and indulgence. Yet after wasting everything, he found himself bankrupt, starving, and ashamed.
When he returned home, he discovered that the very things he had been searching for were waiting there all along: the best robe, a feast, music, celebration, and, above all, the loving embrace of his father.
So it is with God.
Everything the human heart truly seeks—love, security, identity, forgiveness, joy, and lasting peace—is found in fellowship with our heavenly Father.
As Augustine of Hippo wrote:
“You have made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.”
God’s Top Ten: Our Vertical Relationship with God and Our Horizontal Relationships with Others
Please turn with me to Exodus 20, where we find what may rightly be called God's perfect “Top Ten List”—the Ten Commandments.
Before we study this sacred text, let us pray:
Father, as we open Your Word, we acknowledge that it is not merely relevant to modern life—it is eternally right and absolutely true. Your Word is the final authority for what we are to believe and how we are to live. Teach us to think biblically rather than emotionally, culturally, or politically. Make us not only hearers of Your Word, but obedient doers of it. Through the power of Your Holy Spirit, conform us to the image of Your Son. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.
God's Top Ten List Is Perfect
People are fascinated by “Top Ten” lists—top movies, top songs, top books, and top achievements. Such lists are based on opinions, votes, and shifting preferences.
But God has given humanity a Top Ten list that does not change.
There was no committee.
There was no public vote.
There was no debate.
The Ten Commandments are God's own words, written by His finger on tablets of stone (Exodus 31:18). They express His holy character and reveal His moral will for all people in every generation.
Because God is truth itself, His commandments are not suggestions or preferences. They are absolute, authoritative, and eternally right.
The Two Great Divisions of the Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments are beautifully organized into two sections.
The First Four Commandments: Our Vertical Relationship with God
The first four commandments deal with our relationship upward—with the Lord Himself.
- You shall have no other gods before Me.
- You shall not make or worship idols.
- You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
- Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
These commandments teach us that God must occupy first place in our hearts, our worship, our speech, and our time.
Jesus summarized this section when He said:
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” — The Gospel of Matthew
Everything begins vertically. If our relationship with God is not right, every other relationship in life will eventually suffer.
The Final Six Commandments: Our Horizontal Relationships with Others
The last six commandments deal with our relationships outward—with other people.
- Honor your father and your mother.
- You shall not murder.
- You shall not commit adultery.
- You shall not steal.
- You shall not bear false witness.
- You shall not covet.
These commandments teach us how to love our neighbors as ourselves.
Jesus summarized this section by saying:
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” — The Gospel of Matthew
The Ten Commandments therefore form a divine cross:
- Vertical: Love God supremely.
- Horizontal: Love others sacrificially.
When these two dimensions intersect, life is ordered according to God's design.
The Fifth Commandment: The First Human Relationship God Addresses
The very first commandment concerning human relationships is:
“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you.” — Book of Exodus
This is profoundly significant.
Before God addresses murder, adultery, theft, lying, or coveting, He begins with the family.
Why?
Because the family is the foundational institution of human society.
God Established the Family
The family was not invented by culture, government, or public opinion.
God Himself created it when He united Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:24).
Marriage is God's sacred covenant between one man and one woman for life, and the family flows from that union.
Since God created the family, only God has the authority to define it.
And because the family reflects His design, Satan fiercely opposes it and seeks to distort, divide, and destroy it.
Marriage Reflects Christ and His Church
The Christian marriage relationship is more than a social arrangement—it is a living illustration of the gospel.
In Epistle to the Ephesians, husbands are commanded to love their wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her.
Wives are called to respond with loving respect and willing submission to their husbands as unto the Lord.
Thus, God says to the watching world:
- “The sacrificial love of this husband reflects Christ's love for His church.”
- “The devoted response of this wife reflects the church's love for Christ.”
Marriage is therefore a visible testimony of the invisible relationship between Christ and His redeemed people.
Honor Means to Give Weight
The Hebrew word translated “honor” carries the idea of giving weight, significance, and value.
To honor one's parents means to treat them with respect, gratitude, and seriousness.
This commandment reminds us that authority begins in the home, and that reverence for God is often cultivated through learning respect for parents.
The Second Epistle to Timothy warns that in the last days one mark of moral decay will be that people are “disobedient to parents.”
A society that loses respect for parents is a society unraveling at its foundation.
God's Order Is Always Right
At times God's commands may conflict with human reasoning or cultural trends.
Yet the ultimate answer is simple and sufficient: God has spoken.
Because God is the source of truth, whatever He says is true whether we fully understand it or not.
His commands are not burdensome restrictions but loving boundaries established by a wise and holy Father who knows what is best.
As generations faithfully honor God's design for marriage, family, and obedience, His blessing is often passed from one generation to the next.
As Max Lucado wrote:
“You were deliberately planned, specifically gifted, and lovingly positioned on this earth by the Master Craftsman.”
The Purpose of God's Law
The Ten Commandments were never given as a ladder by which sinners climb into heaven.
They were given as a mirror to reveal our sinfulness.
When we examine ourselves in the light of God's holy law, we discover that we have all fallen short.
Only one Person has ever perfectly kept the law: Jesus Christ.
He fulfilled every command without sin.
Then, at the cross, He bore the judgment that lawbreakers deserved.
As Epistle to the Colossians teaches, Christ took the written code that stood against us and nailed it to His cross.
The Law Pointed Them Ahead To Jesus As We Are Pointed Back In Time To Christ, His Cross And Empty Tomb
The law exposes our guilt.
The gospel offers forgiveness.
The law says, “You have sinned.”
The gospel says, “Christ has paid.”
The law condemns.
Christ saves.
When we repent and place our faith in Jesus Christ, God not only forgives us, but writes His law upon our hearts by the Holy Spirit.
Then obedience becomes more than duty—it becomes desire.
We no longer ask, “What must I do to be accepted?”
Instead we say, “Because I am loved and forgiven, I delight to obey my Lord.”
The Ten Commandments can be summarized in two directions:
- Upward: Love God with all your heart.
- Outward: Love your neighbor as yourself.
The first four commandments govern our vertical relationship with God.
The final six govern our horizontal relationships with people, beginning with the most basic human institution of all: the family.
And the fifth commandment—“Honor your father and your mother”—stands as the bridge between loving God and loving others.
When God's order is embraced, families are strengthened, society is stabilized, and Christ is glorified.
When God's law reveals our sin, it drives us to the Savior.
And when we come to Jesus Christ, the One who perfectly fulfilled the law, we discover forgiveness, transformation, and the power to walk in newness of life.
Read some on God's decalogue -- God's Top Ten List.
