The Ten Commandments

Click here to hear an audio version of this story.

Long, long ago, there was a wise man named Moses.  One day Moses climbed a mountain called Mount Sinai.  When he reached the top, he was on holy ground and God spoke to him giving him Ten Commandments people must follow:

I. You shall have no other Gods before me.

II. You shall not make for yourself a graven image.

III. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.

IV. Keep the Sabbath Day holy.

V. Honor your father and mother.

VI. You shall not kill.

VII. Neither shall you commit adultery.

VIII. Neither shall you steal.

IX. Neither shall you bare false witness against your neighbor.

X. Neither shall you covet your neighbor's wife, house, fields, or anything that's your neighbor's.

These commandments were cast in two stone tablets.

The Moral of this Story

1. It is crucial to retell a story to keep is alive.  You see, physical objects like the stone tablets can last for many, many years.  But the stories which stand behind them and breathe live into them; always stand just one generation from extinction.  This is a story about religion.  We also have many stories about our company that must be retold.
2. It is not the object or events that we pass on to our children, but it's a story that is our heritage.  Without the story of Moses climbing Mount Sinai and God writing the ten commandments on stone tablets, the tablets become just stone.  The same is true for Armstrong.  It becomes a pile of bricks.  
3. Make no mistake....remove the story from the event or object and it loses its significance.  Each generation must be told the story as accurately and as often as possible, or the next generation will say, "There was once a man names Moses who climbed a mountain-I can't remember the name of the mountain-and God gave him the Ten Commandments on stone tables.  The ten commandments said:

I. You shall have no other Gods before me.

II. You shall not make for yourself a graven image.

III. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.

IV. Keep the Sabbath Day holy.

V. Honor your father and mother.

VI. You shall not kill.

VII. Neither shall you commit adultery.

VIII. Neither shall you steal.

IX. Neither shall you bare false witness against your neighbor.

X. Neither shall you covet your neighbor's wife, house, fields, or anything that's your neighbor's.

The next generation will tell the story, "There was once a man names Moses who climbed a mountain-I can't remember the name of the mountain-and God gave him the Ten Commandments on stone tables, but I can't remember what they said.  By the third or fourth generation, they story will go, "There once was a man-I can't remember his name-who climbed a mountain and he received some stone tables with commandments on them from God.  I can't remember what God said or how many commandments there were, but I hope the story will help us keep our faith."  Now do you see why stories about our company must be retold faithfully?  If not, we forget important details in the stories, such as the name of Moses, the mountain or even the Ten Commandments.  Did you remember all Ten Commandments?

©1995 Parables Into Profit