Bible reading: Genesis 19-21; Matthew 20:1-16
Memory verse: “Thou shalt have no other gods before me. [4] Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:” Exodus 20:3-4 (KJV)
Before the ten commandments, the Bible tells us about men like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob amongst others who worshipped God in their lifetime. They voluntarily chose to serve God on their own and believed in Him even in tough times. They placed Him above everything or anyone even when there was no law then.
Now God has chosen a people of His own and wants to use them as an example to the whole world on how He must be worshipped. Among the guidelines or commandments He gave was, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me. [4] Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:” Exodus 20:3-4 (KJV)
Worshipping another God instead of the one who takes care of you is like a servant who lives in his masters house, eats there, gets all his clothing’s from there and yet goes out to serve another master who does nothing for this servant, in fact has no ownership claim on him. By so doing, that servant has placed another above his master. That’s what God was trying to correct on the earth when He gave the Isralites this commandment. He brought them out of bondage to serve Him and to be a model for others to follow.
Today, we still battle with temptation all around us aimed at our worship to God. So many things are struggling to take God’s place in our heart. The point is that nothing else can qualify as god in your life. The true God is not only to be number one but the only one. Other gods can also constitute things we place higher than God in our lives. The Bible defines these as idols, and they can be anything from money and possessions to food and working out or people and relationships, and even cars. Anything or anyone we place above God is another god in our life.
As Christians, we are a “chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation” ( 1 Peter 2:9). We are God’s people, set apart to live according to his ways. His ways are not our ways. Our tendencies are to cave to the cravings of our flesh and fall prey to the thinking they will give us the comfort and happiness we need. Our marriages, children, business, jobs, careers, cars, habits, friends, ets must take a back seat when it comes to putting God first. It is sad that many are putting the creations and things above the creator Himself.
Be conscious of who holds the number one place in your life else you unknowingly fall into idolatry.
Bro. Worthmore Aghanenu