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Is God your only God?
Frank Borg
Do we worship our
Creator with a sense of
awe and respect? Or do
we sometimes put
interests and pursuits
of this world ahead of
Him? How well do we obey
the first commandment?
God must be our only
God!
The twentieth chapter of
the book of Exodus
outlines the Ten
Commandments that God
gave Israel through
Moses on Mount Sinai.
These laws where given
so that we can have the
protection that we need
to be guaranteed the
enjoyment of true
freedom, happiness and
success. If applied,
they give us peace with
God and with man.
Unfortunately, since God
gave Israel these laws,
most have severely
deviated from them which
has resulted in the
chaos and unhappiness
that we see in the world
around us. Few
understand that the
strict adherence to
these commandments, in
spirit and in deed, are
vital to ensure the
worship of the one true
God, and to securing the
abundant blessings that
come as a result of
obedience to them.
Exodus 20:3-4 outlines
the first of God’s
commandments which
states: “I am the LORD
thy God…thou shalt have
no other gods before
me.” This is the first
and great commandment
(Matt. 22:38) in which
God directly states that
we need to make sure
that He, the Creator and
ruler of the universe,
is the God that we
worship. God wants us to
keep Him first in our
lives, above all else!
We must not lose sight
of the fact that God is
behind these
commandments. People
often allow interests of
this world to engulf
their time, focus and
energy thus allowing
other gods to influence
their being. In no
uncertain terms, this
first commandment
prohibits us to falsely
depend on anyone or
anything other than God
Himself. It clearly
indicates that we must
avoid anything
that can endanger or
hinder our worship of
the one true God.
God and His Work must be
at the forefront of our
lives. If anything
lends itself to
directing our heart away
from putting God first
in our lives, we break
this first commandment.
We must be cautious not
to allow anyone or
anything to displace God
from being our one and
only God! A word of
caution: one doesn’t
usually put God aside
deliberately – it begins
very subtly – this is
the danger we must be
extremely careful of. We
must prevent the
subtlety in which many
unintentionally
push God into second
place. This begins the
moment we start to
compromise in any way
with God and His laws.
On a regular basis, we
must take a moment to
evaluate what is most
important in our lives.
We need to assess our
priorities and make sure
that nothing in
our life is emphasized
more than those things
that build and
strengthen our
relationship with God.
Here are a few things we
should consider: Do we
put greater importance
in enjoying our
preferred pastimes or on
studying the Bible? Do
we spend more time, for
example, watching
television than we do
praying and studying? Do
we take more pride in
our physical appearance
rather than how we look
to God in mind, spirit
and truth? Are we
enslaved to fitness,
entertainment or any
other distractions that
may take priority in our
lives? How effectively
are we applying God’s
commandments and
building our spiritual
character?
Moderation is the key!
Obviously, making sure
we groom ourselves,
engage ourselves in
hobbies and wholesome
entertainment are
recommended and highly
encouraged. However,
what we need to be
careful of is that we
don’t expend too much
effort and time on these
things to the point that
they become objects of
worship - we must allow
these things to serve us
and not the other way
around! We must evaluate
what we give time and
attention to throughout
the day and be careful
not to serve our own
lusts! How much time do
we spend in study and
prayer on a daily basis
in contrast to how much
time we spend doing some
of the other things in
our life? We must ask
ourselves these
questions! God must come
first! This is
essential!
There are a few other
areas we should
consider. Haggai 1:4,
for example, tells us
that in the end time
some will lavish huge
expense and attention on
their own homes. While
it certainly is not
wrong to have a nice and
comfortable home, God is
here reminding people
not to get caught up in
materialism and neglect
God and His Work.
Material possessions,
family, friends, studies
and even our jobs are
all extremely important,
but they can come in
between us and God if we
allow them to. These
things could divert our
focus and attention away
from Him and away from
applying God’s way of
life if we are not
careful. To make sure
that nothing takes the
place of God, we must
keep our priorities in
their proper order. We
must not allow physical
things to let us lose
sight of the spiritual.
Where our treasure is,
is where our heart is
(Matt. 6:21)! We are
ultimately the servants
of whom we obey. God
must always come first!
Speaking to God in
prayer first thing in
the morning, before we
begin with our daily
work or activities, is
something we must be in
the habit of doing. We
should also end our day
in contact with Him. It
is recorded that Daniel
prayed three times a
day (Dan 6:10)!
Importantly, while we go
about our day, we should
live our life in an
attitude of prayer
(1Thess 5:17). By doing
this, we show God that
He really is in
the forefront of our
minds! Contact with God
helps us draw closer to
Him ensuring a strong
relationship with our
Creator. We must see God
in everything
that we do, whether it’s
in our work, activities,
sport, family, the music
that we listen to, the
films that we watch and
in every other pastime
we engage in. We are
admonished to seek Him
in all that we do: “Seek
ye first the
Kingdom of God, and His
righteousness” (Matt
6:33). This must be our
daily goal! He must rank
first in importance and
every other demand must
come second. If we keep
this in mind and
apply it, we uphold
and obey the first
commandment. God must be
the greatest reality in
our lives! Notice that
the second part of verse
33 states: “…and all
these things shall be
added unto you”! If we
put God first in our
lives, and obey the
first commandment,
everything else will
follow! God will see to
it that our prayers, as
long as they are
according to God’s will,
are answered! What an
inspiring and
encouraging promise is
made to us!
As we pray and as we go
about our daily routine,
we must be consistently
grateful for all the
blessings that God so
abundantly pours over
us. We need to think
about how God intervenes
in our lives on a daily
basis – even in little
things. God daily
blesses us with
abundance in so many
areas - food, clothing,
shelter and numerous
other necessities and
comforts - but there are
also a number of other
ways in which God
intervenes and has a
direct hand in our
lives. For example,
there is no doubt that
very often God also
keeps us out of danger
and diverts us away from
certain harmful
situations which we
don’t even know about!
Are we thankful for
God’s continual
protection? Do we show
appreciation for His
mercy toward us? When we
speak to God in prayer,
we must be continually
thankful to Him for all
of our answered prayers
and for all the good
things that come our way
each and every day. Do
we consistently thank
God for the revelation
and spiritual food that
He gives us? Are we
grateful to God for the
ministry and for the
Work that we have the
privilege to be a part
of? The more detailed
our prayers, and the
more thankful we are to
Him, the more central
God is in our lives.
This is all relevant to
worshipping God and
making sure that we are
wholeheartedly applying
the first commandment.
In responding to a
question made to him by
one of the Pharisees,
Christ answered: “Thou
shalt love the Lord thy
God with all thy heart,
and with all thy soul,
and with all thy mind”
(Matt 22:37). Christ was
here telling the
Pharisee that God must
constantly be in the
forefront of our minds –
everything we say and do
must be in compliance
with His law, for Him to
be our true God. To do
this we must endeavor to
think before we speak
and think before we act.
This will help ensure
that our words and
actions are in
accordance to His will
and pleasing to Him.
This is necessary if we
are to keep focused, and
make sure that we are
doing our best to
maintain God in the
center of our lives and
to avoid carnal
interests from taking
His place. In
everything we say or do,
we either serve God or
else we serve our own
lust and Satan the
devil. Showing that
we first and foremost
love God with all our
heart, soul and mind
must be clearly evident
by our words and
actions.
“Look unto me, and be ye
saved, all the ends of
the earth: for I am God,
and there is none else.
I have sworn by myself,
the word is gone out of
my mouth in
righteousness, and shall
not return, that unto me
every knee shall bow,
every tongue shall
swear” (Isaiah
45:22-23). God is here
again asking us to
worship and look to Him.
If anyone of His people
is guilty of breaking
the first commandment,
we are being admonished
to come to repentance.
One day in the near
future, the whole world
will have their chance
and will come to realize
that God is THE God!
Right now is our chance
to prove our loyalty to
God!
With authority God tells
us, ‘I am the Lord your
God…you shall have no
other god’s before me’
(Exodus 20:2-3). God
wants to be our
uncontested God! Not
only is God entitled to
this, but we have a duty
to honor and worship Him
as our Creator and
Sustainer. Our desire
and passion should be
one of wanting to serve
God and resist any urge
that might keep us away
from our Bible study and
prayer.
Let us do all we can to
show God that we depend
on Him. God must come
first and foremost in
our lives and we can
prove that to Him by
ensuring that we worship
Him with a sense of awe
and respect. Let us
always be in remembrance
of the first
commandment, obey it in
spirit and in deed, and
allow God to be our only
God!
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