In the Lectionary from the Book of Common Prayer for this week, the Old Testament reading is the account of Yahweh giving the Ten Commandments to Moses, for him to give to the people. One small devotional could never sufficiently cover all Ten Commandments. Each commandment on their own has enough spiritual material for multiple sermons. Thus in this devotional I am going to focus on just one of the Ten Commandments, the first commandment. Let’s look into this commandment that heads the list.
After parting the Red Sea for Moses and the people of Israel to depart Egypt, the Lord slowly led them to Mount Sinai. Leaving the people at the base of the mountain, Moses proceeded the climb Sinai where he met with the Lord, and received the Ten Commandments, along with the other rules and regulations which comprise the Old Testament Law. The first of the commandments reads “You shall have no other gods before Me.” As the people were to soon enter the land God had promised their fathers, which was currently inhabited by the Canaanites, there was the temptation to worship their pagan gods and goddesses, along with reverting back to worshiping the many false gods of the Egyptians. Right at the start of His commandments, the Lord placed the command to have no other gods but Himself. The phrase “before Me” means in addition to, or in preference to Yahweh. No deity, real or imagined, is to rival the one true God.
We might wonder what this has to do with us today. Most of us aren’t tempted to worship other false gods and goddesses. That may be true, however we all can, and often do, set up other types of idols in our lives which can rival or even take the place of God in our hearts. This commandment is about allegiance. We have got to be committed to Yahweh. He must be our priority in all of our life.
The devil seeks to deceive us by trying to make us believe that having other gods is limited to worship of another deity instead of Yahweh. What are some of the other things that can take God’s place in our life and our hearts? Who or what is receiving the glory in our life? One thing that easily takes His place is one’s career. It often starts back while studying in college, when the Bible, prayer, and church attendance starts to slip because of “lack of time”. Then getting and keeping that good job takes priority. We excuse that because we think that it’s so important. This then quickly leads to setting up money as an “idol” in our life. One’s house can become an idol, one’s car, or any other of one’s possessions. The computer and the internet are chief among many people’s idols, and especially all types of social media. Have any of these stepped in and become an idol in your life?
There is another thing that so many people have made as an idol in their lives, and that is another person, particularly one’s spouse and/or their children. Of course the Lord wants us to love our spouse, if we have one, and to love and care for our children, but have we put them before Him? He is to be first in our life, then our family, our spouse and children, not the other way around.
This commandment is first for a reason. God must be first in everything we do, because intimacy with God is to be the highest priority for our life. We are to honor God above everything else that exists. He is our ultimate authority. He will not tolerate divided love or loyalty. He deserves and demands it all. Numerous times in the Bible Yahweh said that He is a jealous God, and will not share His love with anyone or anything else.
Another way that people can break this first commandment is by actually incorporating the worship of false pagan gods into the worship of Yahweh. There have been churches and denominations that willingly “share an altar” with leaders of false religions, including Buddhist or Hindu religious leaders, and incorporate their false beliefs and practices into Christian worship. Doing such vile practices is part of what led to the Kingdoms of Judah and Israel being taken into captivity. God condemns such practices all throughout the Bible.
We cannot pick and choose which commands to obey. Christians must submit to His will because He is God, and we are not. Jesus made corresponding statements about each one of the Ten Commandments. Matthew 4:10 corresponds with the first commandment. In closing we need to know that all false gods, whether literal gods of other false religions, or figurative ones in our heart, stand in opposition to the true God. The worship of them is incompatible with the worship of Yahweh.
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