The First Commandment: No Other Gods

There is no more famous and more well-known creed of ethics in our world than the Ten Commandments. Many people can recite them and have known them since they were small children. While believers are free from the Law today, these ten orders given by God are still the best ethical code that the world has ever seen. Even being free from the Law, we can interpret these commandments to give us ethical order in our families, businesses, relationships, and our personal lives.The first commandment is given in Exodus 20:3, which says, “You shall have no other gods before me.” In order to follow this “ethical code”, we need to ask ourselves, “Is there anything or anyone in my life that has a higher priority than God?” You may be going to church every Sunday, getting involved in a Bible study once a week with a small group, and even volunteering to serve at your church whenever you get the chance, but when it comes down to it, what is the most important thing in your life?A good way of knowing whether or not God is the main priority for you is to see how much recognition you give Him in your daily life. Is there gratitude towards Him for everything that you own, or do you view all of your possessions as something you’ve earned all by yourself? When your talents, gifts, and skills get noticed, who receives the praise? When the doctor comes in with a good report, is your thankfulness aimed towards God? All of these questions are important to ask and can give you some indication of whether or not you’re really giving God recognition in your life. Your mind needs to be completely and totally fixed on God and He needs to be at the forefront of your mind every single day, not just Sundays or Wednesdays. Making God your priority doesn’t mean being able to say that He’s the most important; it means making Him the most important by seeing Him in every detail and event in your life.Another way to know whether God is your main priority is by finding how much others can recognize a spiritual priority in you. Is there anybody in your life that would be able to point out what you truly worship? Perhaps the people that know you the most – your family – may be able to see that you spend the vast majority of your time thinking and talking about a certain thing. Or maybe your coworkers would be able to say, “I know he goes to church and is a Christian, but I can tell you what he really worships.” Do your neighbors see a true desire for God in you, or do they see a heart intent on something else? There is another group of people that really should be able to see a spiritual priority in you – your church! If we don’t show that God is our priority at church, which is probably the easiest place to exalt God higher than everything else, then there certainly is a problem and this first commandment is being broken.It’s extremely important to make sure that this ethical code of having no gods before the One True God is consistently followed, because if this one isn’t being shown in your life, chances are that you’re breaking several others as well! The first commandment is a tattle tale! Make sure that you’re giving God all recognition in every part of your daily life and be sure that others can easily see a spiritual priority in you. By doing this, you’ll find it easier to follow the other nine commandments and you’ll have the foundation down for glorifying God in every area of your life.