You Shall Have No Other God’s Before Me!
If you look in the Old Testament book of Exodus, chapter 20, you will find the list of the
Ten Commandments that God handed down to the Israelites through Moses. The first of these was, “You shall have no other gods before me”.
What does this mean, and why did God choose to make it number 1 on his list of top ten?
Let’s see if we can find out.
In Old Testament times, the people of the area worshiped many different gods. There was the Sun god, the water god, and the volcano god. There were gods for fertility, happiness, revenge, war, even crops and grains. In fact the people of those days had a god for just about anything you can name. One city even had a statue to the unknown god, just in case they missed one. It just didn’t do to offend any of the gods!
Today of course, we sophisticated Americans don’t believe in all those different gods. I mean after all, when was the last time you heard of anyone praying to the sun? We do see other people in other countries praying to different gods or idols, but we’re much to civilized for that, right??? Maybe not.
We may not pray to idols and multiple gods like they did in the Old Testament times, but we manage to put our share of “gods” in the way of the one true God. What do I mean by that? How about when we put things, or people first instead of God. We have then said to God, you’re not that important in my life, these other things or people come first.
Congratulations, you have just set up an idol, or god that you worship more than the true
God. What do I mean?
Think of it this way. Even when we put good things, such as our family or even the firehouse first in our lives, it detracts from God. He is the creator of all things including our family and the firehouse. Shouldn’t we put him first and then everything else second? Yes we should. After all, much as we love our families, or our firehouse, or our job, or our toys, they are all temporary things that God has graciously given us and we are not to put them first!
Our God is a jealous God, and he does not accept second best. It’s not a choice; it’s a fact. He laid down the law and this law is number one on the list. No person, place or thing should take His place in our hearts. When we put God as number one, we’ve started down the right road in our priorities. Everything else will fall into line where they should, starting with our family and friends, and yes even the firehouse!
Still have questions? Give me a shout on my firehouse email and I’ll be glad to discuss it with you!