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"You shall have no other gods before Me" is stated clearly in Exodus 20:3 (NKJV). While God may be everything to us in our thoughts and minds, as we hold Him dear in our hearts, we must examine whether we have other gods that rival or threaten to overtake our Creator. Highly unlikely you say? Incredulous? They may be there hiding in the dark recesses where we think we have removed all the junk, shut the door and do not want to look, much less tidy up, like an attic or basement where we only go sporadically because we have to. Over time that door may have become stuck and difficult to open as we have become used to our routines and rather comfortable in our ways that seem to suit us. Automatic mode or LaLa land where common sense is replaced by distractions and feelings of "whatever feels good or seems good in our eyes" therefore and thus we do. This should not be so. Instead it may be time to get the WD40 lubricant out. Fixing a physical door is easy by comparison to spiritual barriers which need more time and skill hence we must have a true desire and motivation to dig deep. Indeed alarm bells should be sounding right about now. Are we listening and paying attention? God does not flash lights and sound sirens like police cars, fire engines or ambulances to warn us. However there are plenty of loving warnings throughout the Bible from God Himself and also through His prophets. For starters, Deuteronomy 30 is a good place to look, read through, and refresh our memories in order to benefit spiritually. God wholeheartedly urges us to choose His way to gain eternal life. Do we know that God is always first and foremost in our lives? Or could it be that we have inadvertently or not unintentionally because of deception, let our guard down allowing the devil to creep in? Easy to do as the devil wants us to be distracted and busy with the cares of this life. We know that the next step is a stronghold of evil which is extremely dangerous territory for any one of us to be in at any time. We do not want that under any circumstances. Could it be time to take a look inside the dusty or neglected parts of our temple just to be on the safe side? Dust and debris can build up rather quickly over a 7 week period. Between the festivals of Passover/Days of Unleavened Bread and Pentecost the devil continues to be remarkably active. If he didn't unravel you with pre Passover trials then he certainly doesn't give up now. We have examined our spiritual state in depth (likened to spring cleaning) before taking the Passover, however an ongoing daily filtering and checking in order to remain vigilant is needed to keep things clean as our temple can inadvertently and quickly become profane, polluted and ruined by false gods that have no place therein.
You shall have no other gods is the first commandment. You know the ten commandments from the Holy Bible and how serious this instruction is from God. Deuteronomy 30:11 specifically says to us "For this commandment which I command you today is not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off". God begins with His first commandment by teaching us not to have other gods, any false gods, no, not even one, because by taking notice of them and paying homage like the rest of the world does in empty pagan worship, He knows that this is harmful to our spiritual state and relationship with Him -- the one and only true God (Deuteronomy 6:14-15 and 32:16; 2 Corinthians 11:2). For why should we give our time and attention to a false god who utterly pales and fails in comparison to our Creator, who is full of love and every good thing? False gods and idols can be anything else that is out there. They are vain pursuits, empty, not lasting but temporary, feel good things that can seem wonderful and exciting but will eventually have dire consequences spiritually. Usually we tend to think of big and obvious things such as the god of money and riches via gambling and get-rich-quick schemes, youthfulness with seeking out expensive so-called beauty products that appeal to human vanity such as make-up, hair dye and anything man made that masks our true natural beauty from God's hands, mediums and fortune tellers, "lady luck", obsessing and lusting over getting whatever we want in life -- this ties in with coveting which is the last or tenth commandment. During this study a realisation has set in that I never saw before until now -- the first and last commandments are as a type of bookend. Most disturbingly we can even make ourselves to be as a false god because of putting our will first in selfish desires over God's will. Our almighty God is a jealous God and desires our complete and undivided attention, worship, dedication and love by listening to Him as we would heed our physical fathers/mothers/parents while developing in our formative years when the world was strange and unknown in contrast to our innocence and complete awe for our dedicated and trusted nurturers (Exodus 34:14).
"You shall have no foreign god among you; you shall not worship any god other than Me.
I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it" is written in Psalm 81:9-10 (NIV). After our rescue by God from the world which is presently under the sway of the evil one, the devil (1 John 5:19) and is symbolic of Egypt, God is giving us blessings and we will do well to claim them. He not only created us but provides for us in all that we have. Blessings of whole foods (both physical and spiritual) in abundance for our needs; these flow on to good health and vitality in order to have life more abundantly now (John 10:10) and for the future. We realise that our blessings are not only physical but also spiritual if we listen to God in humble obedience and claim them as one of His beloved children. Why would we want any other foreign god to dwell even for a day with us? Our God is so far above all the other gods which, quite frankly, are laughable if they were not so evil. Thinking about this brings me to a particular example from the Old Testament which is found in 1 Kings 18 where the prophet Elijah put to rest all the doubts from the people and exposed the futility of false gods before King Ahab. Do you remember the account where Elijah had victory over Baal's 450 prophets on Mt. Carmel? This account always provides great strength and delivers hope, trust and faith in the one true God, our God who created all of mankind.
You shall have the account provided here from 1 Kings 18:20-39 which reveals "So Ahab sent for all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together on Mount Carmel. And Elijah came to all the people, and said, 'How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him'. But the people answered him not a word. Then Elijah said to the people, 'I alone am left a prophet of the Lord; but Baal’s prophets are four hundred and fifty men. Therefore let them give us two bulls; and let them choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it; and I will prepare the other bull, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it. Then you call on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord; and the God who answers by fire, He is God'. So all the people answered and said, 'It is well spoken'. Now Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, 'Choose one bull for yourselves and prepare it first, for you are many; and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it'. So they took the bull which was given them, and they prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even till noon, saying, 'O Baal, hear us'! But there was no voice; no one answered. Then they leaped about the altar which they had made. And so it was, at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, 'Cry aloud, for he is a god; either he is meditating, or he is busy, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened'. So they cried aloud, and cut themselves, as was their custom, with knives and lances, until the blood gushed out on them. And when midday was past, they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice. But there was no voice; no one answered, no one paid attention. Then Elijah said to all the people, 'Come near to me'. So all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down. And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, 'Israel shall be your name'. Then with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord; and he made a trench around the altar large enough to hold two seahs of seed. And he put the wood in order, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood, and said, 'Fill four waterpots with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood'. Then he said, 'Do it a second time', and they did it a second time; and he said, 'Do it a third time', and they did it a third time. So the water ran all around the altar; and he also filled the trench with water. And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, 'Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word. Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that You are the Lord God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again'. Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, 'The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God'!"
You shall have unequivocally and undeniably no doubt that God the Almighty, Sovereign of all, is the only God to seek out from anything and everything that is out there from which this world has to offer. For God's people know that the world is passing away and all that is in it as it is clearly written within 1 John 2:16-17. We do not love anything offered by this world but rather give our love to God through obedience to His 10 commandments. God is first and shall remain first in all our thoughts, words, and actions. When we rise, go out, come back in, and dwell. He is why we exist, He provides our purpose in life, He fills our hearts and minds with every good thing in stark contrast to what the world offers from false gods and idols that say "You deserve it", "Do it your way", "Whatever feels right is right", "All love is love", "Get it now", "You can have it all", and "Be who you want to be". These are all deceptions that appeal to our carnal human nature. However for us, the old man (who we were) was buried under the watery grave upon baptism therefore we have put on the new as Paul so directly writes in Ephesians 4:17-24. We have come out of the world yet we must live in the world. Make your life truly count by being completely faithful to God our Creator and continue to shun, repel, and remove the vile, seductive temptations from false gods that will ultimately be destroyed and therefore no longer exist as there is absolutely no place for them inside any one of God's holy children or in His soon coming Kingdom.
You shall have God's Word to continue to instruct you and fill you with inspiration and joy from, for example, Zephaniah 2:11 which powerfully reads "The Lord will be awesome to them [us], for He will reduce to nothing all the gods of the earth; people shall worship Him, each one from his place, indeed all the shores of the nations". Incredibly this is what the whole of humanity has to look forward to, therefore we must fulfill our part now by having no other gods anywhere near us. Psalm 73:25-26 declares from Asaph "Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart fail; but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever". We shall indeed have no other gods before us because of the all encompassing and consuming love we have which is exclusively generated for our God who rightfully deserves our most humble awe, praise and devotion as we continue to draw each and every breath in this life.