The First Command

“You shall have no other gods. What does this mean? We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things.” (Small Catechism, 1st Commandment)

This commandment may seem to be a bit outdated. After all, not many of us have little statues in our homes that we bow down to. We don’t make a habit of worshiping gods or goddesses in the traditional sense. We might think that because of this we can skip this commandment and move straight on to the next one.
However, God does not give us such authority. Not one dot of the law shall pass away (Matthew 5:18). This commandment still holds true. It still applies to us, as sophisticated as we might think we are, because there are other gods in our lives. And we often place them in front of and above our Heavenly Father.
Think about where you spend the bulk of your time. Where do you spend the bulk of your money? Does the television get more hours in a day than God? Does the satellite company get more of my money than Christ’s Church? What god do we worship there?
Think about who or what you trust. When the chips are down do you immediately take it to the Lord in prayer, or do you seek help elsewhere? When you are confronted with sinful behavior do you seek the comfort of the Gospel or do you try to justify your actions? Far too often we become our own god. We trust our own two hands more than the pierced hands of Jesus.
Our Triune God deserves to come first in the life of every person and especially every Christian. He has earned that right with His actions in Creation, Redemption, and Sanctification.
And only God can actually do anything about anything. Television does not hold the answers you need. You cannot save yourself from all that life has to throw at you. But Christ has our answers in His Word. He has the power and the prerogative to save us from every sin, failure, and disaster. Why put no other gods before Him? Because He alone has the “kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.”

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