The husband had bought one of those statues of Christ, brought it home and put it in the den. About a week later Mama moved it and put it in the kitchen. The little 5-year-old girl went to see it, and when it wasn't where it usually was, she came into the kitchen and said, "Mama, where did you put God?"

Now there are a lot of people who need to answer that question, "Where did you put God?" Where do you put God in your life? This first commandment is that kind of searching commandment that asks us the question, "Who is God of your life?" or "What gods are in control of your life?"

I want you to get the picture. God has taken Moses up to the top of Mt. Sinai. We do not know exactly where that mountain is; we know the vicinity, but we do not know exactly which mountain. There are two or three that are pretty close together and any of them could fit the description. But on the mountain, God and Moses had a conversation. We do not know all that he said, but maybe it went something like this:

Our Heavenly Father said to Moses, "I'm going to send our people into a promised land. It's a land flowing with milk and honey. It will have everything that you need for successful and prosperous living. I have seen to it that you have everything that you need for successful and prosperous living. I have seen to it you have in the land, but it is how you live in the land that is important. And so I'm going to write with my own finger Ten Commandments. If you will obey them, then you will be happy, and I will bless generation after generation. If you do not follow these commandments, you will not be blessed, and I will turn My back on you."

So Moses came down with those tablets called "The Ten Commandments." I'm sure that any of you who went to see the movie, "The Ten Commandments," got your picture from that. I think I did. I went when I was little. I thought Cecil B. DeMille did a good job with it, and I particularly liked when it showed them crossing the Red Sea. Those walls of water went up with that sea, and those children of Israel walked through -- that was the most amazing thing. I was so happy I was a Christian, and on God's side! I tell you I nearly shouted at the movie and I wasn't a shouting Baptist at that time. I just got happy that I had a God like that that can separate the great Red Sea and let His children through. And we have a God like that today because He is the same yesterday, today and forever.

Well, we got a picture of Moses -- or Charlton Heston -- coming down from the mountain with those two tablets. I will never forget it. And I used to think that the Ten Commandments were given as "Thou Shalt Not's" ...you know, just kind of negative. But the more I live and study the Word of God I see that these are positive principles for powerful living.

You will remember that Jesus said, "I did not come to tear away any of the law, I did not come to put any of that down. I came to fulfill it." So God intended them for us, and I believe, as He told Moses, "These commandments are good not only for My people, but for all people for all times." Let's look at them.