PASTOR’S NOTES
You shall have no other Gods before Me.”
With the mountain in flames and covered in smoke, God speaks of worship. Before God speaks of murder, marriage, or how to treat others, God addresses the most important command man should live by. Make God first in your life!
Worship is defined as the expression of reverence and adoration for a deity. God starts the Ten Commandments with telling the people that worship will be reserved for Him and only Him. That relationships, behavior, and all decisions will go through making God the only deity worthy of worship. God is a jealous God and the only thing worthy of praise!
“You shall have no other God’s before Me.”
Out of all commandments, I read these first verses with the most weight. Of course murder is awful and adultery is damaging, but I believe putting anything ahead of the Lord carries the most danger in our lives.
Idol worship destroys anything it touches. It could be a child, job, marriage, money, or status that is worshipped. Idols are not simply carved statues or evil addictions, Idols can be wonderful blessings that were meant for good, but have become cancers because we have placed them before the Lord. Anything “good” in nature can quickly become wicked and a weight around our necks.
Anything placed ahead of the Lord will end in destruction.
In the days of Exodus, the people worshipped ridiculous statues and carved images that most of us today would never dream of bowing to, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have idols in our lives today. Today we are not much different. We worship anything that brings us happiness and run after the world with everything we have, forfeiting joy for a quick fix of status or acceptance. Many people today are destroyed and crushed by the weights of idols in theirs lives.
Although many of us never intend to break the first commandment, we find our hearts lured away by the temptations to follow other Gods in the belief that they will bless more. This thought is from the enemy and will do nothing but destroy and damage what we care most about.
God tells the people to place Him first because only He is worthy, but also because not doing so is damaging for those who have placed their faith in Him. God cares and loves us and knows that idols will destroy His children.
SCRIPTURE TO GO ALONG WITH THE MESSAGE
Read Ecclesiastes 2 as we will speak on Solomon on Sunday concerning the subject of placing God first.
HIGHLIGHT IN YOUR BIBLES
Highlight all the idols in Ecclesiastes 2 that stands out to you.
