Book Review – 10 Words to Live By

The Atlas Book Club kicked off in January with us reading Ten Words to Live By from Jen Wilkin. I truly enjoyed reading this book and having finished it about 2-3 weeks ago, I’ve had some time to process what’s stuck with me and what I’m still pondering.

Wilkin goes through each of the 10 Commandments and not just reviews what they say, but what is the intention and heart behind them. Let’s do a quick review of the 10 commandments and while we do, take notice to which of those have more or less text with them.

1. You shall have no other gods before me.
2. You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
3. You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
4. Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work,  but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns.  For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
5. Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
6. You shall not murder.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

What did you notice? Wilkin points out that the 4th commandment on the Sabbath is the longest and most detailed and also the one mentioned most frequently in the Old Testament. She points out that “it would seem that the call to rest is one in need of emphasis and reiteration”.

Think about the other 9 commandments. My guess is you are pretty aware of most of them if you’re a follower of Christ and because of that, you try to be intentional not to break any of them. Except for the Sabbath. I have found through conversation and my own experience that this one we can turn into more of a suggestion rather than a commandment. We may interpret Sabbath or a general rhythm of rest as something to do when we are feeling good about the others, rather than a gift that God has given us.

For the various commandments, something Wilkin explores that resonated with me was what she called “An Expansive Obedience”. This isn’t just what the commandment says, but the intention and heart behind it. Rather than looking at specifically what day, hour, and exactly how to practice Sabbath, she encourages us through an expansive obedience to instead question “How can I practice Sabbath in broader and deeper ways?” 

Rather than just “having no other Gods before me” from the first commandment, Wilkin encourages us to set aside our mentality of “both-and” like needing God and a nice house or needing God and money. When we follow Him, that’s all we need. When we worship anything other than God with our time, money, or thoughts, we’ve missed the point. There is no God and. There’s just God.

In the 6th commandment not to murder, Wilkin expands our thought on obedience to recognize that it’s not just about not murdering. That’s the bare minimum. When Jesus speaks in the Sermon on the Mount, he encourages us that to walk in obedience is to take it further than the minimum. It’s to examine it more deeply. The heart is to recognize the root of our anger. To consider how “a negative emotion can lead to harmful thinking, to harmful speech, and to harmful actions”. When we indulge in unrighteous anger, it creates ripple effects. By addressing the root, unrighteous anger, and stopping it before it take hold, we are getting to the heart of the command.

I could go on about how we can look at each command with a more expansive lens, but this is where I encourage you to read the book. Wilkin does a beautiful job explaining in an approachable way.

When I initially picked out this book for the book club, I am embarrassed to admit I didn’t actually know what it was about. I’ve read three other books from Wilkin and I’ve adored them all, so I just knew this one would be good too.

The reason that’s worth mentioning is back in November I identified my word for the year (or at least the next 6 months of the year but more on that in a future post). I knew my word for the next season was obedience. I chose that word and this book, without ever knowing how the two intersected. This is where I just not to God and say “thank you”. I felt His nudge to do the book club. I felt his nudge in which books to pick and when. God knew before I did that this book was the perfect start to the year.

That’s why the look at an “expansive obedience” hit home for me. Because I don’t want to just do the minimum. I want to understand the heart of God. Not just what he commands, but who he is. I want true relationship with him. Not to just know about Him, but to know Him.

So I’ll wrap up with this – “No more external obedience. Obedience that pleases God begins in the heart. Ten Words carved in stone at Sinai and powerless to save us, now carved on our hearts and powerful to transform us. The tablets given to Moses have long since crumbled to dust, but the beauty of their commands lives on from generation to generation in the hearts of God’s people”.