I JUST HEARD FROM GOD TODAY AND HE SAID,
"Thou shalt have no other Gods before me....." Ex. 20:3

   Lightning flashed! Thunder crashed! The mountain echoed with the voice of God. Moses stood transfixed as God laid out the plan. Israel had proven so wayward that God needed to lay down some guidelines. They had drifted so far off the course that only God could bring them back!

  Instructing Moses as to His intentions God wrote with his finger Ten Commandments. They were not optional but essential; not suggestions but demands! They were not given as a means of salvation but a source of guidance! They were the carvings of God indelibly written to give guidance to Israel and all mankind!

  The first of the ten deals with our relationship to God. We are to pay Him total allegiance and unquestioning loyalty! He is to be first and foremost in all out thinking. We are to set none beside Him! Israel had repeatedly relied on other gods! Early in their wilderness journey Israel couldn’t decide whom they would serve. In a classic confrontation Elijah stands upon Mt. Carmel and issues a challenge. He declares, "How long halt ye between two opinions. If the Lord be God follow him but if Baal follow him." After a total failure on the part of the Baalite Prophets to call down fire Elijah successfully achieves the goal! As a consequence Israel declares, "The Lord is God!"

  The bottom line is that God will accept no other place but first place! No other position in our lives than first position Joshua summed it up when he said, "Choose you this day whom ye will serve............ but as for me and my house we will serve the Lord." The response of the people is clear, "God forbid that we should forsake the Lord." "The Lord our God will we serve, and His voice will we obey." I feel like that too. I have given him first place in my heart. How about you?

In Jesus;
W. Scott Lockard

©2007 Pastor Lockard's Living on the Bright Side Ministries. You may print the article for your own personal use. But any posting or distribution of this article without express written consent is prohibited!