Good Morning.
“You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything 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)
Let us consider that if we acknowledge the first command — that our God is sovereign over all — then all of the subsequent commands should be followed without hesitation. If He is LORD of all, then He gets to make the rules. Consequently, His people should not entertain the notion of allowing the influence of other gods into our lives because, as He declares, “There is none beside me” (Isaiah 45:6).
The command about other gods encompasses different facets. We are forbidden to believe in idols meaning we are forbidden to make or possess them. Furthermore, we are not to employ godly methods in worship of these other gods and visa versa. In other words, we should not try to worship the Almighty using the methods familiar with other “gods” and religions. The phrase, “You shall have no other gods before me” -– which is literally “no other gods (in) my face” — pretty much sums it up. To flirt with other ideologies and philosophies that conflict with the ways of God is akin to parading another lover in the face of your spouse while still married to them.
The fact of the matter is our God is a jealous God which is to say, He is a jealous husband. Considering that we are to be His bride, He doesn’t suffer the notion of a flirtatious bride very well and will not allow such actions to go unchallenged. He warned Israel against such and, as we know, they paid the price when they engaged in spiritual adultery.
In today’s world, we are not often tempted to follow after some other god in the ways it was done in the past. In other words, I seriously doubt any of us would want to fashion an idol dedicated to some other god and bring it into our home. However, the reality is that anything or anyone that we allow to “coexist” in our heart along with our God is, in fact, a transgression of this command. It is needful, therefore, that we search our hearts incessantly to make sure that we aren’t allowing other gods to take up residence within our soul. So then, let us ask the LORD to reveal whether we have done this and to show us what we may have allowed into our lives that would come between us and Him. Let us do this knowing that when we draw near to God, He will draw near to us (James 4:8).
Blessings and Shalom,
Bill
Recent Comments