No other gods...

Good Morning,

Exodus 20:1-6 (NIV)
And God spoke all these words:
"I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
"You shall have no other gods before me.
"You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand {generations} of those who love me and keep my commandments."

These words, from the mouth of God, are as true today as they were those many thousands of years ago.

All that has changed are the "gods" that people choose to worship, although there are still those who will bow down and worship stone, wood, gold, or other physical idols and gods.

Today, the world has replaced many of those man made idol type gods with other man made idols. Maybe they don't call them gods, but they are worshipped nonetheless.

So, a short list, perhaps? Television, maybe? Think of the time spent in mindless and often ridiculous watching of the "tube"...much of it totally stupid. Sports and sports teams? If given a chance, millions of people will spend inordinate amounts of time, energy, and money to worship their sports teams and idols. (Gators anyone?) The computer? Oh, my! How many hours are totally wasted spent typing and reading and searching on the computer? Now, of course, that's not directed to those who use the computer as a tool for good and to reach people for the Lord. But, think now...think of the time on all the social networks and other mindless things. (Let's not even mention those places that people go where they KNOW they shouldn't go!) Musicians and music? Oh, yes! Elvis! Michael! So many, many, many others...alive and dead...that folks idolize and can't get enough of.

We get the idea, I'm sure. God told us, words directly from His mouth spoken so that all generations would hear and know them, that we are to worship HIM! Only Him. "You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of ANYTHING in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them." Well, how often do we see people actually, physically give that "bow" when some sports idol or music god does something amazing? "Oh, we don't mean anything by it," you will hear, I'm sure. But, well, isn't it bowing to an idol?

Okay. Enough said, huh? I think that we all need to examine on what we spend our time and where we tend to spend our money. Have we made idols and gods in the here and now that are pushing God aside, even just a little bit? If we find that the answer is "Yes," then we need to rethink what we're about.

Love, peace, and blessings,

David