1st Commandment: No Other Gods

Look in Exodus 20:3, the first of the Ten Commandments. God says, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” God says we are not to have any other gods before Him. What does God mean when He says no other gods? He means that no one else, and nothing else is to take the place of God in your life. In other words, God demands first place in your life and mine.

If you were married, would your spouse accept you having another boyfriend or another girlfriend on the side? No, not normally anyway. There is something wrong with them if they would accept that. You would be very jealous if you found out your spouse had some other love, some other rival for your affection. God says He demands our affection. He wants no other gods in our life.

Now let me ask you this. On the basis of that, as you look back through your life from the day you were a child, all the way up to today, can you say you have always loved God with every fiber of your being? Have you loved God with every part of your life, with all of your heart? Can you really say that? I can’t. I don’t believe there is a person alive who can say, “I have always loved God and wanted Him more than I have wanted anything or anyone else.” Most people in our world have filled their life with chasing after things or chasing after others. They are trying to find fulfilment in people and things that God never said we should chase and things that never will satisfy.