Commandment #1: Thou Shalt Have No Other Gods before Me
2023-03-31
Thou shalt have no other gods before me. (Exodus 20:3)
The first commandment is rather all-encompassing. The only thing to be worshipped is God. He is also our priority for living since He created us for His own purposes. “So we thy people and sheep of thy pasture will give thee thanks for ever: we will shew forth thy praise to all generations” (Psalms 79:13). Again, “For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Corinthians 6:20). And again, “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created” (Revelation 4:11).
This complements the greatest commandment: “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment” (Mark 12:30).
This convicts every person of sin because nobody has ever devoted themselves entirely to the Lord their entire life through. Have you always loved God with all your mind? Every thought has served God always from conception until your death? That’s nobody but Christ. You cannot hide thoughts from Him either. “...for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins” (Psalms 7:9).
Anything can be a god to us. We may not be bowing to idols, but we want more stuff, more security, more comfort, more happiness... Not everything is sinful, but to put anything before God violates this command. Even your family or Christian service can be idols.
It is so severe to serve other gods that it carried the death penalty: “But thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people” (Deuteronomy 13:9).
If there is any commandment would condemn the world, it is this one.