THOU SHALT HAVE NO OTHER GODS BEFORE ME
Americans have not done a good
job of following this first of the Ten Commandments, have they? Not just unbelievers, of course, but not even
many believers, I would suggest.
No gods before God. Our focus must be on him first and
always. Family, jobs, friends, hobbies,
sports, whatever, even worthwhile causes, cannot come before God.
Jesus again made the same point
when asked what was the greatest commandment.
He said to love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul,
and all your mind. Again, God is
first. Jesus in his statement went on to
make loving our neighbor – i.e., all other people – in second place. A close second he pointed out, but still
second. Notice again no job mentioned
anywhere. No work assignment. Don’t think anyone will ever get any praise
in heaven regarding how hard they worked at the office or store or plant or
factory.
So no gods before God.
Look at America today. How many gods can you name that Americans
worship more than God? Or put before God
in their actions. Remember, you can
judge what a person believes or thinks by looking at his actions. What he says means little, but what he does
tells all.
How about money. Income.
How about work. Jobs.
Easy to see in some people’s lives that their jobs are the god of their
life. They sacrifice everything to
getting ahead in that job (There really is a difference between having income
as a god and having work as a god. Some
people just want money, they want more income, they focus on income in
life. And some others really do just
focus on a particular type of work – their job really is them—they revel and
live in that job.).
How about sports. Watching sports, especially pro
football. Or playing golf.
How about good times – vacations,
etc.
How about a spouse or love. Putting a person higher than God. Suppose you are having great difficulty in
your marriage. Suppose you go to all
sorts of experts for help – spiritual experts as well as secular counselors,
and nothing seems to work. And you just
keep at it and keep trying to adjust your own life, yet nothing you seem to do
ever pleases this spouse. You have made
that spouse and your relationship with the spouse your top priority. You have put that spouse above God. You need to stop, repent, and put God back at
the top of the list.
How about children? Strange sounding, isn’t it. We are all supposed to love our children, and
I expect overwhelmingly most do. But I
suggest a strange thing has happened in recent decades. For some reason young parents have become
more devoted than ever to being sure their children have everything possible,
experience everything possible. And to
being sure they are safe, protected. Not
only do they work tirelessly to do that, but they adjust their entire life
schedules and activities to do that. The
children are the center of their lives…and I would suggest their god. Not the way it was supposed to be. Children are wonderful, but they are just
part of the family. Life most assuredly
is not just about the children, although I expect if you are alert you know
some young parents who live that way.
Still having trouble seeing
this? Just look at time – how much time
you or others spend on various subjects.
Write it down. Look at the time
spent in work, in watching television for relaxation or vegging out, in driving
about and going shopping or out to restaurants, in working on the yard or
house, in going to school events, in going to social occasions. You can do this for yourself and those you
know closely. You likely will be
shocked. Looking at where you spend your
time is another indication of your priorities in life.
What if people put God
first? What would happen? They would realize all the other blessings
and promises of God, that’s what. Putting God first surely means you believe
him and his words. It means that you
live and act according to his words. If
you don’t you are surely not putting him first.
That’s just like Paul’s famous words about confessing that Jesus is Lord
of your life. If he is your Lord, then
you by definition obey and do whatever he says.
Never too late to start. At least while you are still living and still
on planet earth. But it will be too late
soon.
Keep Your Eyes on Jesus!
(February
2016)
Copyright © 2016 by John
Newlin
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