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Commandments 1-2

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

‘You shall have no ’gods before Me.’ Have you seen the new, all-purpose greeting card? The front says, ‘Generic Card’, and the inside reads, ‘Happy Whatever!’ The first commandment was designed to stop you from going through life pursuing ‘whatever’ the latest fad happens to be. It’s particularly important in an age that encourages you to do your own thing instead of God’s thing. It grabs you by the collar and says, ‘Hold on! Jesus is supposed to be the Lord in your life, so put Him first!’ ‘You shall not make for yourself an idol’’ Two friends had just listened to a sermon on the Ten Commandments when one said to the other, ‘Well, at least I’ve never made any graven images.’ Although he jokingly implied he’d broken all the others, this commandment is actually the most abused. Most of us don’t worship golden calves or stone statues, but how about our loyalty to things that have no eternal value, like pleasure, power, possessions, and social standing’. Isn’t that idolatry too? Anything we put before God is an idol! ‘You shall not misuse the name of the Lord...’ Don’t you get tired of society dismissing profanity in movies, songs, bumper stickers and T-shirts calling it ‘adult language’’ But that’s not the only way we misuse the Lord’s name. As Christians who wear His name every day, whenever we don’t live right we dishonor Him. It’s time to take the title ‘Christian’ seriously, and start practicing what we preach!

Prayer
Heavenly Father – may the idols in my life be exposed for what they are – worthless when compared to You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen