• What blueprint (plan, design) have you got for your life?
• God's desire is for you to find "life in all its fullness" (John 10v10).
• Who knows what is best for you?
• The bible & logic says it's God who alone knows everything about you and about the future.
  For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. (Jeremiah 29v11)
• God wants the best for us.
  Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act. (Psalm 37v4-5)
• We need to seek God's will and aim to please him, so he can bless us.
  Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear…… But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Matthew 6v31, 34)
  So don’t worry about having enough food or drink or clothing… he will give you all you need from day to day if you live for him and make the Kingdom of God your primary concern. (New Living Bible)
• This does not mean we will be spared all suffering; indeed we may suffer more for doing what is right.
  You have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for him. (Philippians 1v29 NLB)

• Imagine your life as a building, with different rooms representing different areas of it.
• If they are to be secure, buildings need good foundations.
• Once they are put in place you can build on them in different styles.
• The foundations must not be dug up or tampered with.
• Jesus says we need the right foundations for life, so we can withstand all that life throws at us. God's commandments provide this.

• Imagine life as a field in which animals are free to roam, eat, drink, mate, play, etc.
• Wise farmers put a fence around the field to keep the animals from straying into danger.
• The fence keeps predators out, thus protecting the animals.
• The animals are meant to enjoy the field, not worry about the fence.
• They must not break the fence down, or they lose its protection.
• God's commandments are a fence around our lives to protect us from straying into dangerous ways of living, and to stop wrong influences from attacking our lives.

• The "Ten Commandments" are a blueprint for our lives, God's foundation on which to build a secure life. They are a fence to keep us from straying into harmful ways of living.
• Jesus endorsed them (Luke 18v20), and showed a man who thought he kept them that he was misunderstanding them. What might Jesus say to us about them?
• We will look at each one in turn over coming weeks and apply them to different areas of modern life.
• About what areas would you like to hear God's advice, instructions, and commands? (e.g. work, leisure, home, family, friends, money, sex, power….. let me know your concerns.)

Ideas for further thought or study.

• What guidelines to you seek to follow for your daily life?
• Some have suggested "What Would Jesus Do?" as a guideline. What do you think of that?
• How do you feel about the idea of God giving you commands to obey?
• Why do you think God does so?
• In what ways may they be an expression of his love?
• How do you respond to the images above of a blueprint, or foundations, or a fence as ways to understand the place of God's commandments in daily life?
• Have you any suggestions for areas of life that this series should tackle?

Read Exodus 20v1-17.

• What strikes you about these words?
• Which commands seem to you (or others you know° outdated or irrelevant today?
• Which are difficult to understand?
• Which do you find hardest to apply to your life?
• Give an example from your own life & experience of how one (at least) of these commandments speaks to a contemporary life situation.
• In what ways have these "Ten Commandments" been the foundation for your country's laws?

Read Luke 18v18-30.

• Why do you think Jesus quoted some of the commandments in reply to the Rich Young Man?
• What did Jesus' challenge to him in verse 22 reveal about his & Jesus' understanding of the commands?
• Are there times when you keep the letter of the commands but lose the spirit behind them?
• What "one thing" might Jesus suggest you lack in your response to God's commands?

Read Matthew 5v17-30.

• In what ways did Jesus fulfil God's laws?
• How do you feel about Jesus' emphasis on the importance of keeping God's laws?
• How do Jesus' words change our understanding of the commands against murder & adultery?
• Is there a principle you can draw out from this which could be used to deepen our understanding of the other eight commandments?
• Remember that Jesus sometimes deliberately exaggerates (e.g; cutting off limbs) to make his point. (This classic technique of teaching is called hyperbole.)

Read Romans 13v8-10.

• In what way is love the fulfilling of the law?
• How can Paul's comments here help us to understand God's commandments?
• How can his words help us set the right guidelines of our daily living?

Read Luke 6v45-49.

• On what foundation is your life being built?
• What examples have you seen of the two types of builder Jesus here cites?
• How can you learn what teachings of Jesus should be your foundation?
• How can we be sure we are obeying, not just hearing Jesus' words?