Lessons from JH Ranch - Part 7

Exodus 20:3 You shall have no other gods before me.

Are there any more powerful or clear words in the Bible than this verse? This is the very first of the Ten Commandments that God gave to us and it was first for a reason. He is very serious about it. He follows that with the second commandment which ties into the first regarding idols:

Exodus 20:3-6 You shall not make for yourself an image 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 parents 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.

When we read the Old Testament, we read a lot about how Israel bowed down to idols. They made golden calves and different types of poles symbolizing all kinds of gods. It’s easy to put ourselves above them by thinking that we would never do anything like that but, the reality is that we have our own version of “golden calves.” We make idols out of many things - career, money, image, our appearance, hobbies, sports teams etc…

Something that I find interesting about the first commandment is that God said that “you shall have no other gods before me.” By mentioning “other gods,” doesn’t that make the presumption that there are “other gods?!?”

Well, the answer is yes and no. Notice that the letter g in “other gods” is not capitalized. When we refer to the true God, we always capitalize the G. There is only one “big G” God; however, there are manmade “little g” gods. “Little g” gods are the idols of our culture and are created by man just like the golden calves of the Israelites.

How do we know if we have any “little g” gods in our lives? The best definition that I have ever found for an idol is - anything that competes with our affection for God. In other words, do we have any “gods” that rival our love for God. None of us would ever want to admit that but the truth is that we probably all struggle with this at times.

To determine if this is a real issue for us requires an honest self-check. A practical way to evaluate it is to identify the things that disproportionately occupy our time, thoughts or money. Idols live in those places. It requires a change in behavior or perspective to overcome these “gods” that we have created.

I challenge you this week to think about that and see if some action is required on your part. May God help us not to exchange His glory for lesser things - “little g” gods.

Stay Hungry,

Big E