1st Commandment*

Right off the bat I want to make sure that we all know where I am coming from. :) I am not a scholar. I am not someone who has studied scripture intensively.I seek the Lord through His Word and prayers. Each time I sit down with a cup of coffee and the Bible, I ask God to meet me. I pray that the Holy Spirit will show me something in the Word. I ask that at the very least, I would be blessed by the time we have together. I talk to my Father about His Word. I will read a passage and we will chat about what was written. A lot of my spiritual healing has come from these precious conversations.

Now, with all that said, lets dive into it!

While I was reading the Commandments, I realized that this wasn't something tucked into the Old Testament for just the people of Israel. This is for the Spirit-filled, Cross bearing, Resurrection believing people! This is for me! God and I began to read them focusing not just on the 'Do and Don't' but on the heart attitude behind the Law. What an eye opener for me.

Commandment number one.
Exodus 20:3 "You shall have no other gods before me."

O.K. Simple enough, I thought. Then God spoke to me. What does that mean to a New Testament believer? When I think of that word 'gods' I think of the Biblical gods. I think of Zeus or Astarte. I think of big statues and crazy practices. I think of an outright defiance toward God. Probably everything you think of.

I looked up the word god in the dictionary. It said that a god was: being of more than human powers; a divinity; an idol; any person honored unduly; any object esteemed as the chief good; false deities; the Supreme Being.

Any object esteemed as the chief good? Hmmm

Any person honored unduly? Hmmm

I think that we will find out that we sometimes do put something ahead of God. What I mean is this, are there things in our lives that take priority over having a relationship with Christ? Do we merely say "Hey" to God in the morning on the way to the coffee pot? Would we rather check our email instead of spending that 20 minutes in prayer? Would we rather watch our favorite show then read His Word? I am guilty of all that! I am not saying that we can't watch t.v. or check our email. And if you know me, you know I would never say we couldn't drink coffee! :) But where is God in your day? Is He someone that is with you at all times or do you leave Him behind in order to do your 'to do' list? What about the people in our lives? Do we choose our friends wisdom over The Lord's? Are we substituting God with our friends? Again, I am not saying we can't have friends, Jesus had friends. What I am saying is that we should talk with God about stuff before we go running to our best buds. Often times, at least I have found this to be true, I don't even need to concern my friends with something after I have taken it to Christ.

So, this is what I have learned about the First Commandment: To not put anyone or anything above God. To make sure that He and I are on the best of terms before I do something. To make sure that I am not sacrificing our relationship for the world.

I pray this has encouraged you. Perhaps it made you stop and think. I know I am thinking twice before I just do something.



*Previously posted 11/5/06