Freedom is Good News Part 103

“You shall have no other gods before me.”  As it stands, this is the first of the 10 Commandments.  We have been talking about the greatest commandment – the one Jesus cited in Matthew 22:37 and have seen that the first step in loving God with all that we have and all that we are is to be obedient children of our Heavenly Father.  When considering obedience, our first stop must be the 10 Commandments.

Some time ago, I read that there are approximately 5,000 laws enacted every year in the U.S. - in federal, state, and local legislatures.  God told Israel, “I give you ten!!”  We know that as time went on, Moses asked for guidance in dealing with the multitude of people that accompanied him in the wilderness.  God gave him statutes and precepts to go along with the ten – but that’s another story for another time.

The first commandment had to do with God’s mandate that His people worship Him alone.  Let us consider why.  God is a God of forgiveness and mercy and grace.  The bible tells us that He knows our frame and that we really are prone to sin.  He so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son to save us from our sins.  Knowing this, then, if we break any of the other commands, we are called to go to Him and repent of our sin and He is true to His word and will forgive us.  Correct?  Yes! 

OK then, if I have another god before Him and in this way sin, who is going to forgive me?  The reality is, there are no other gods to offer me forgiveness. 

But, you ask, we really don’t have statues of Molech, Dagon, Baal or Rephan as did the pagan people of Israel’s day.  True, but we have made many other gods that we in the 21st century serve and worship and place before our heavenly Father.  Have you ever heard the term, “the almighty dollar”?  Many people chase “the buck” to the exclusion of faith or family.  There is only one who is Almighty and He tells us to trust in Him with all of our heart.  But I have a better one for today; the internet in all of its various forms.  Hours spent in front of a screen – any screen – whether playing games, texting, checking e-mails or facebook posts, we can very easily find ourselves being addicted to the “machine”; a sorry sight indeed.  We are serving a machine rather than have it serve us.

Some people serve the entertainment industry.  I read about a man who claims to have seen over 5000 movies in his short life.  Why?  Some people serve the fashion industry.  The desire to have the best clothing and accessories to the point of spending beyond ones budget is a sin and a placing something before God.  We in the U.S. have an abundance of food, whether it is in the grocery stores or at restaurants.  Sometimes our appetites control us rather than the other way around.  I could go on but I believe you get the point.

Is there something in your life that takes precedence over obedience to God?  The word worship literally means to deem something to have a great amount of worth.  Worship is a shortened form of the two words – worth ship.  This worshiping God with our whole heart and soul is not too hard.  But we’ll talk more next time.  Obedience = love for God = good news.