Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.
"...whatever is esteemed or loved, feared or served, delighted in or depended on, more than God, that (whatever it is) we do in effect make a god of. This prohibition includes a precept which is the foundation of the whole law, that we take the Lord for our God, acknowledge that He is God, accept Him for ours, adore Him with admiration and humble reverence, and set our affections entirely upon Him." - Matthew Henry We live in an incredibly blessed country. "To be among the wealthiest half of the world last year, an adult needed to own only $3,210 in net assets (minus debts), according to the data. To be in the top 10 percent, a person needed to have only $68,800 in wealth.To be in the top percentile, the threshold climbed to $760,000, according to Credit Suisse. Consider that, according to the Federal Reserve, the median American family had $81,000 in net worth in 2013, and the average family had $535,000 in net worth." (http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-richest-people-in-the-world-20160121-story.html) I know there is poverty and needs- don't get me wrong. There are many suffering, so clearly I'm not referring to those in that situation. We're so blessed, I am fearful we have lost sight of our need for God. We have clean, running water. We have grocery stores where we can instantly get food (with or without rain). Those stores are relatively nearby. We can drive, bike, walk, or catch a ride to them. So many things in our world are so instant that we don't realize how instant they are. We have colleges with multi million dollar coaches and stadiums. We have fans who spend their Thursday through Sunday in a tailgate spot rain or shine. We have closets full of clothes (ouch). Some of those closets have hefty price tags. We have an abundance of food. Often my day is planned around meals and what or where we will eat. We are so blessed. Unfortunately though, we're also in a place where we will miss church for rain but not that football game. We will buy, buy, buy things with open hands, but when it comes to tithing and helping others we suddenly have tight fists. Our dependence is often in our careers or aid from someone or something else. Our contentment comes from finances, things, relationships, etc., In this, many have lost sight of our need for God and have created a whole lot of gods. Social Media has forever changed our world. How often many hop on there, check our feed find a notification or twenty, and find ourselves a little (maybe a lot) giddy? We are seeking joy in all the wrong places. We have found "joy" that is temporary and failing. (As I'm typing, I'm having a really hard time placing all of these thoughts together, so forgive me.) Our admiration and reverence has shifted from God to all of these other things. We didn't go carve a golden calf, but we've made gods of these things by adoring them more than God. We've made idols by worshiping things more than God. We put more time into hobbies, TV, friends, etc. than we do our relationship with Jesus Christ. If we look at the Ten Commandments, we see the first four deal with God's holiness. Overall, we see that they are all applicable to relationships, as we must love God and have a relationship with Him first before our neighbor. The remaining six will, clearly, help you to maintain positive relationships as murder and adultery aren't to keenly viewed in the realm of friendship. So today I challenge you.... I challenge myself... to find joy, peace, comfort in the eternal Creator of the universe instead of these temporary things. "The Egyptians, and other neighbouring nations, had many gods, the creatures of their own fancy, strange gods, new gods; this law was prefixed because of that transgression, and, Jehovah being the God of Israel, they must entirely cleave to him, and not be for any other, either of their own invention or borrowed from their neighbours. This was the sin they were most in danger of now that the world was so overspread with polytheism, which yet could not be rooted out effectually but by the gospel of Christ. The sin against this commandment which we are most in danger of is giving the glory and honour to any creature which are due to God only. Pride makes a god of self, covetousness makes a god of money, sensuality makes a god of the belly; whatever is esteemed or loved, feared or served, delighted in or depended on, more than God, that (whatever it is) we do in effect make a god of. This prohibition includes a precept which is the foundation of the whole law, that we take the Lord for our God, acknowledge that he is God, accept him for ours, adore him with admiration and humble reverence, and set our affections entirely upon him." -Matthew Henry
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