“You shall have no other gods before ME!”

Exodus 20:3                                     (ESV)

“"You shall have no other gods before ME.””

For almost ten years I have been writing devotionals that THE LORD has impresses on my heart to share, never considering  exactly why mankind is becoming so vile.  Watching the carnage, unruliness, and straight out lawlessness currently is troubling, discouraging, and downright tumultuous.  

In Exodus 20, the Children of Israel and all of humanity were given Ten Commandments by which to abide.  The very first one is “You shall have no other gods before ME”, but I don’t know of a person who can honestly say that they have kept the first commandment, myself at the front of the list!  How many times have I/we done whatever I/we wanted, giving no thought to that which ALMIGHTY GOD was directing me/us to do!  

Romans 3:10-11 says “as it is written: "NONE is righteous, no, not one; NO ONE understands; NO ONE seeks for GOD.”  Folks, we are ALL rejected by a THRICE HOLY GOD!  Even the best human falls short of HIS GLORY.  We are unable to keep the even first of the Commandments, and yet some of us think that we will be “good enough” to stay out of hell?!?  We don’t have a clear understanding of the HOLINESS of GOD if that is the case.

Because there is NONE RIGHTEOUS, NO NOT ONE, confusion and despair will be the norm........without the CHRIST!  When we get to the point where “You shall have no other gods before ME”, then and only then will we be able to SEE PEACE and CONTROL!  Living without JESUS is confusion and despair.  JESUS says in John 14:27 “PEACE I leave with you; MY peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” When our EYES are opened to SEE that JESUS is GOD (John 10:30), and GOD IS IN CONTROL (Luke 12:22-26), “You shall have no other gods before ME” becomes more than a memory verse!!!