The First Commandment: Putting God First

The Bridge
Exodus 20:3

God gave us the Ten Commandments so that we might remain free from sin (1 Peter 2:16, Galatians 5:13, James 1:25). His laws provide us with a set of boundaries for living so that we may live in obedience because He is holy and sovereign. Moreover, God gives us these laws for our own good Deuteronomy 32:46).

The first commandment serves as the foundation for the other nine commandments. God wants us to know that He is the one and only God. Moreover, He demands that we give Him all the glory and will not share it with anyone else (Isaiah 42:8). He desires to be the sole object of our worship. This is because He alone is worthy of our worship, and He has exclusive rights to govern our lives.

Here are several questions you can ask yourself in order to determine if you are placing something else before your love of God:

1. Evaluate your ‘thought life’ (thinking)
2. Evaluate your checkbook (spending)
3. Evaluate your free time (scheduling)

Here are two ‘tests’ that you can consider to determine whether God is the most important thing in your life:

1. The Love Test - What do you desire most? (Matthew 10:37)
2. The Trust Test - What/Who do you trust the most? (Jeremiah 9:23)

God wants us to know that He is so awesome and fulfilling that we don’t need anyone else or anything else. But more importantly, in Him we have what we need most - a Savior (Isaiah 45:21, John 17:3).