Open the Bible UK Daily

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” Exodus 20:8 The fourth commandment is one of life’s greatest struggles and one of the most frequently misunderstood commands. Some Christians imagine they’re honouring God by making Sunday the dullest day of the week, a day marked by long lists of things you cannot do. Some of us need to begin by clearing away the blockages that might hinder us from hea...

“Continually all the day my name is despised.” Isaiah 52:5 Isaiah the prophet was given an insight into the heart of God when he heard God’s anguished cry over the abuse of His name. That’s the tragedy of our world. But God has an answer: “Therefore my people shall know my name” (52:6). Those who know and love the Lord are the guardians of His reputation on earth. Honouring the Lord’s name is our...

"You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain." Exodus 20:7 The first thing that typically comes to mind when we hear the third commandment is the issue of swearing. The way you use a person’s name says a great deal about what you think of them. And if you look up the name Jesus in your Concise Oxford English Dictiona...

He is the image of the invisible God. Colossians 1:15 The reason God places such importance on not making idols is that He is jealous to guard against all images of Himself. Why? Because He wants nothing and no one to detract from the one true image of God by which He has made Himself known—Jesus Christ. The New Testament says (about God) that Jesus is “the exact imprint of his nature” (Heb. 1:3)....

"You shall not make for yourself a carved image." Exodus 20:4 God is invisible, so it is instinctive for us to want some kind of image to remind us of Him or to point us to Him. This commandment is telling us that we are not to make any images to represent God. The problem with our images of God is that they are all less than He is. Many people find icons, beads, or pictures of Jesus helpful. But...

“Follow me.” Matthew 4:19 Our challenge is to embrace God unconditionally. The first commandment leaves no room for “ifs,” “buts,” or “whens,” because as soon as you say “if,” “but,” or “when,” you have put something else in the place of God and thereby broken the first commandment. If you say “yes” to God but then add “if you give me my health” or “if you bless my family” or “if you solve this pr...

"You shall have no other gods before me." Exodus 20:3 The first commandment calls you to a life-long response of gratitude and loving loyalty to the God who loved you and gave Himself for you. Positively, this means cultivating affection for Him, remembering Him, appreciating Him, honouring Him, choosing Him, loving Him, and fearing Him. It means trusting Him, hoping in Him, and delighting in Him....

I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. Exodus 20:2 The Ten Commandments begin with the appeal of a gracious God who is committed to the good of His people, not an appeal on the basis of raw power. God could have said, “I am your Creator. I own the cosmos.” That’s true. He could have said, “I have more power than a million nuclear bombs, so yo...

The young man said to him [Jesus], “All these I have kept.” Matthew 19:20 Take a moment to consider where you stand in relation to the Ten Commandments. Here are three possibilities: Some of us think we’ve climbed the wall. A man was talking with Jesus about the Ten Commandments, and he said, “I’ve kept them all!” He hadn’t murdered anyone, told any whopping lies, or raided a bank. He was a good c...

The law was our guardian until Christ came. Galatians 3:24 The law is like a tutor, a coach, or a mentor. The law, properly understood, will walk you to Jesus Christ. It’s just like a good mentor who shows you where you need to go and then is willing to walk with you so that you get there. This is precisely what the law, applied by the Spirit, will do in the life of a person. The law will show you...

In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. Hebrews 12:4 Let’s review the Ten Commandments from Exodus 20 and name our greatest struggles. 10. Your struggle with contentment: You shall not covet (20:17). Something within us wants more. 9. Your struggle with truth: You shall not bear false witness (20:16). Sometimes it isn’t easy to handle the truth....

My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved. Psalm 121:2-3 Life is a struggle. It is also an adventure. Like climbing a rock face, it is a dangerous business. But it is magnificently worth it. There will be moments of triumph as you conquer some dangerous part of the climb. But there’s always another challenge ahead. The entire Christian life is spent...

“Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” Luke 23:46 The whole life of Jesus had been in the hands of His Father, and now at His death, Jesus committed His spirit into the Father’s hands. Here’s what happens at death to a believer—your spirit goes into the immediate presence of God: To be “away from the body” is to be “at home with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:8). Whatever happens to your body, your sp...

It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, while the sun’s light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last. Luke 23:44-46 Do you see the significance of these words? The hell was over. The price...

It is finished. John 19:30 When Jesus said these words, He was surrounded by darkness and on the edge of death. As He hung there in the darkness, it hardly looked like Satan’s power had been broken, or hell’s gates had been splintered, or death’s sting had been drawn out. One month after Jesus died, the world didn’t look very different either. The same could be said after a year, a century… a mill...

“It is finished.” John 19:30 Jesus finished. You haven’t. But with Him you will. What does this mean? When you are united to Jesus by faith—the Bible often refers to this as being “in Christ”—all that He accomplished on the cross becomes yours. Here are four things that are yours when you are in Christ: Jesus completed His work of atonement, so you are forgiven, accepted, and loved. If you are in...

“It is finished.” John 19:30 There was only one person who could ever truly say, “It is finished.” None of us will be able to say that when we die, because none of us have been able to say it while we live. None of us will be able to say to God “I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do” (John 17:4). It’s impossible. None of us have been able to say this about a...

“It is finished.” John 19:30 What did Jesus come into the world to do? He came to seek and save the lost. He came to give His life as a ransom for many, and on the cross He said, “It is finished.” What is finished? Jesus finished bearing the guilt of our sins. He finished enduring the punishment of our hell. The divine wrath was finished being poured out on Him. The justice of God was satisfied. T...

“It is finished.” John 19:30 Humanity’s conflict with the devil goes back to the beginning. Satan tempted the man and the woman and led them into the sin that forfeited paradise. They got the knowledge of evil and came under the power of the evil one. That’s been our story ever since. But God promised a Redeemer. He said to Satan, “He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Gen. 3:...

“It is finished.” John 19:30 Why did Jesus come into the world? One important reason the Son of God became a man was to live the life you and I would have to live in order to enter heaven. Jesus lived the perfect life. There was no sin in Him, and the night before He died He was able to say to the Father, “I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do” (17:4). None...

When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. John 19:30 What was finished? One thing that was finished was the long night of Jesus’ suffering. Jesus knows about suffering from the inside. He has been to the edge of endurance. Jesus knows about excruciating suffering more than anyone else has ever known it. But He is not suffering n...

After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” John 19:28 We could list passage after passage from the Old Testament that was fulfilled by Jesus’ words here, but let’s focus on just two of them: First, Psalm 22 is an amazing prophecy depicting the cross in extraordinary detail. It was written a thousand years before the time of Christ, in a cultu...

After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. John 19:28-30 The same Jesus who once called out to a crowd, “If...

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 Think about it: the Father’s love was beyond Jesus’ reach. He was shut out from the Father’s love, and yet He said, “My God, my God…” This is of huge importance for our faith. God said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Heb. 13:5). That is His promise. But...

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 What did it mean for the Father to give up His dearly loved Son to a cross? What did it mean for the Holy Son of God to give Himself up to become our sin-bearer and be shut out from the love of the Father? Christians sometimes say something like this: “I know Jes...