Let’s take a closer look into each of the Ten Commandments, as found in the King James Version of the Bible, Book of Exodus, Chapter Twenty.
The first commandment reads, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”
There are several meanings to this simple sentence.
First, we are not to worship any other gods. We do not worship Baal, or Asherah, or any of the heathen gods of Biblical times. We worship God, the Eternal Father, and His Son, Jesus Christ. We do not give any allegiance to idols or icons.
Secondly, we are to be devoted in our worship to our God. We should keep the Sabbath day holy. We hold His name in reverence. We do not take His name in vain, nor do we use His name or show off His priesthood to coerce people into doing things that are not right. We listen for His voice, and when we hear it, we are quick to obey. We take our covenants seriously. We do not joke or tease about sacred things. We know where we came from and we behave accordingly.
Third, we do not let our earthly possessions become our gods. Our sports cars, our computers, our clothing, our cute new hair styles—all of these things are nice to have, but when we spend more time thinking about them and giving them our attention than we do God, we are turning from Him. He is our priority. Things are just that—things.
Fourth, we shall not allow addictions to comfort us in God’s stead. When times of heartache come upon us, we should turn to God for our comfort, not our chocolate, our alcohol, our gambling, our sexual urges. Any time we turn away from God and toward something else to seek peace, we are making an idol of that object, which in turn becomes our god, and we are to have no other gods before Him.
Heavenly Father is the only Being qualified to be our God. He is omnipresent, omniscient, loving, gracious, and merciful. When He commands us to have no other gods before Him, He is not asking us to do something hard—He is pointing out to us that only He is God, and so to worship Him entirely is the wisest thing we can do.
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The Idols We Choose for Ourselves