When we receive instructions, we may wonder if they will change or if they are written in stone. That is true for orders from:

• Parents to children
• Employers to workers
• Governments to citizens

Anything written in stone (or set in stone) cannot be changed.

It is:

• Permanent
• In final form

Similar expressions include cast in stone or etched in stone.

Written in stone probably originated with the Ten Commandments in the Bible.

Those rules, given by God to Moses, were engraved on stone. They provide direction for every part of our lives.

The first four commandments address our relationship with God.

They tell us to:

1. Have no other gods before God.
2. Make no idols.
3. Never take God’s name in vain.
4. Remember and keep the Sabbath day holy.

The last six commandments address our relationships with other people.

They tell us to:

5. Honor our fathers and mothers.

And not to:

6. Murder
7. Commit adultery
8. Steal
9. Bear false witness
10. Covet

Years later, a law expert asked Jesus which commandment is greatest.

Jesus replied, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:37-40).

Love God. Love others. That covers all the commandments in a nutshell.

Thanks to Tracy Crump for the suggestion. Image by Enlightening Images from Pixabay.

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