Answering to the highest power
“And God spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.” (Ex. 20:1-3).
Did the Lord God say not to have any other gods? No, He didn’t. He allows for company at the top of our priorities. He allows for human leadership and guidance. He doesn’t sweep away every other position of authority over us. He isn’t stingy with authority. He isn’t a dictator. He can afford to be fair.
“Thou shalt not revile the gods, nor curse the ruler of thy people.” (Ex. 22:28).
“I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.” (Ps. 82:6). Obviously, the Hebrew idiom, “gods,” spoke of people in leadership positions.
But He did expect the people to keep Him high above all the other leaders. No one else had delivered them from certain death at the Red Sea. No one else had freed them from generations of future enslavement. No one else did the mighty works, supernatural calamities, on such a grand scale. No one else gave them the message, as He lovingly phrased it, “I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto Myself.” (Ex. 19:4).
But did they heed His command? Didn’t they replace Him as the most important person in their life? Who do we listen to? We have our bosses. We have our policemen. We have our government leaders and the Internal Revenue Service.
Have they taken a position before the God who saved us from sin? When it comes time to talk to Him, do our friends compete and successfully steal our time away from Him? When its time in the morning to meet with Him, does our employers voice pop into our head or the work for the day rudely interrupt that quiet communion our God yearns to have with us? When the opportunity arises for us to confess to our peers and friends and family our loyalty and thankfulness to Jesus, does our loyalty toward them trump God and silence our confession of Him? Do these beloved people cause our faith to vanish and zip our lips?
Does food, entertainment, or worldly wants and even needs take a higher consideration than does time spent to maintain a relationship with the Lord Jesus?
Do our most beloved on earth, our children, our friends, our family, our spouse, hold a more favored place in our hearts than God, so that the Sabbath day is filled with them and not Him?
Will we hear Him say one day, “I never knew you?”
“Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.” “Thou shalt love no one more than Me.” “Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”
Did the Lord God say not to have any other gods? No, He didn’t. He allows for company at the top of our priorities. He allows for human leadership and guidance. He doesn’t sweep away every other position of authority over us. He isn’t stingy with authority. He isn’t a dictator. He can afford to be fair.
“Thou shalt not revile the gods, nor curse the ruler of thy people.” (Ex. 22:28).
“I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.” (Ps. 82:6). Obviously, the Hebrew idiom, “gods,” spoke of people in leadership positions.
But He did expect the people to keep Him high above all the other leaders. No one else had delivered them from certain death at the Red Sea. No one else had freed them from generations of future enslavement. No one else did the mighty works, supernatural calamities, on such a grand scale. No one else gave them the message, as He lovingly phrased it, “I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto Myself.” (Ex. 19:4).
But did they heed His command? Didn’t they replace Him as the most important person in their life? Who do we listen to? We have our bosses. We have our policemen. We have our government leaders and the Internal Revenue Service.
Have they taken a position before the God who saved us from sin? When it comes time to talk to Him, do our friends compete and successfully steal our time away from Him? When its time in the morning to meet with Him, does our employers voice pop into our head or the work for the day rudely interrupt that quiet communion our God yearns to have with us? When the opportunity arises for us to confess to our peers and friends and family our loyalty and thankfulness to Jesus, does our loyalty toward them trump God and silence our confession of Him? Do these beloved people cause our faith to vanish and zip our lips?
Does food, entertainment, or worldly wants and even needs take a higher consideration than does time spent to maintain a relationship with the Lord Jesus?
Do our most beloved on earth, our children, our friends, our family, our spouse, hold a more favored place in our hearts than God, so that the Sabbath day is filled with them and not Him?
Will we hear Him say one day, “I never knew you?”
“Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.” “Thou shalt love no one more than Me.” “Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”
posted by David | 6:13 AM
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