Daily Devotions

A survey revealed that 76 percent of Americans consider themselves completely true to the first commandment, which says, "You shall have no other gods before Me" (Exodus 20:3). But I wonder if they understand what that statement actually means.

It all starts with the place of God in your life, because you will serve what or whom you worship. Jesus said, "You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve." (Luke 4:8). It starts here.

When God gave the Ten Commandments to the people of Israel, He reminded them of what He had already done for them: "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage" (Exodus 20:2). He was reminding Israel about the fact that they had been slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt. The Egyptians were big on worshipping all kinds of gods. So when God wrote down His commandments with His own finger on tablets of stone, He started with "You shall have no other gods before Me." God was essentially saying, "Get this one down, because if you mess it up, everything else will fall apart." God doesn't like it when we worship other gods. It is a big deal to Him.

We need to keep this in mind, because here is what God has done for us as His children: He has forgiven our sin. He has redeemed us. He has bought us. So here is what we can do for Him: We can keep His commandments. As 1 John 4:19 reminds us, "We love Him because He first loved us."

If God is number-one in your life, then everything else will find its proper balance. If He is not, then everything else will fall into chaos.