God had said to his people that they would become a “kingdom of priests” if they obeyed what he commanded them. Now come the commandments. The first one is this: “You shall have no other gods before me.” The Israelites had previously, in effect, been servants of the gods of Egypt. That’s how they would have understood their previous slavery. And there is a general truth here. You serve what you worship, and you worship what you serve. God, however, had saved them from the tyranny of the gods of Egypt and now commands them not to go back to what they had been saved from. The rationale for this first commandment is given in the previous line: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” In other words, God is warning them against walking back into captivity to other gods. Of course, there is only one God. Other ‘gods’ are nothing at best and imposters at worst. It might seem that the temptation to have other gods is not present in our secular society. But this temptation is very present. To find what you are worshipping, reflect on what you are serving. Are you serving the modern lifestyle dream? Are you serving the success cult? Are you serving yourself? God calls us to worship and serve him alone. Even when we serve others we do so for Christ’s sake. You are not ultimately accountable to people and their desires and agendas, but to God. Live for him alone and you will be free.
Think and pray about whether you are serving any other than God.
Reflect on Exodus 20:1-3
