Exodus 20:3 “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”
I’m afraid American Christians subconsciously read this and say, “I got this.” They would never say they have other gods, but their lives show differently. They organize their gods of sports, family, comfort, money, and many other things that have a top billing! That is not what God intended with this command. It does not mean He gets the top ranking. The word before in this verse does not have to do with time or ranking. It is saying there should be no other gods in sight. We are to worship nothing else in our lives, but the one true God. He and He alone is worthy of our complete and total commitment.
You may say “I’ve still got this.” I hope you do, but do you find yourself juggling your life to fit church into it? When presented with things to do, when church services are going on, do you say things like, “I’m sorry we have to go to church?” Or, do you cheerfully say to others and your children, “Oh no, we get to go to church that night, we don’t want to miss that.” Do you see the difference in your attitude?
This type of thought process is also giving your kids the wrong impression of the church. You are saying to them, it is a duty, not a love. How eager are you to train your children to live this commandment? Do you just teach them to get through the service or are you actively teaching them to listen and that God’s house is a place of worship? I sympathize with you I have raised and trained two boys of my own and many, many bus kids. In the first 40 years, there were few Sunday’s that Ron didn’t have a row of boys and I had a row of girls sitting with us, as we tried to train them how to listen, so they could hear God when he speaks to them. We sat on the first two rows at church and they got it!
There are so many techniques you can use to train them, and it will not always be easy. But, it will be worth it when they tug on your skirt, at an early age, and say, with tears rolling down their cheeks, “Mommy, will you go with me to the altar, I need to be saved.” Had they not been taught very early how to listen they would not have heard the Holy Spirit’s voice. I tell you that story not to brag because it’s only by God’s grace that any of us are able to train and prepare our children. God does the saving, but we must plant the seed and he will give the increase.
What things are preeminent in your life, family, comfort, money, pleasure, sports, or even friends should not replace God. When God has first place our thoughts on any activity or person should first cause us to run to God. Let me explain. When our kids were playing baseball, it was a major time consumer. When they had a game, I would pray silently during and before the game. Lord, keep these boys safe, let them handle themselves to be a good witness for you. They learned when others bragged on them to say thank you and to give God the glory. When you are getting ready for church, all throughout the week, and especially Saturday and Sunday morning, pray as a family, “Lord please have your way in the service and convict us where we are not right with you. If there is someone at church that’s not saved, please work in their hearts.”
These are simple little things you can do to make sure your life is God-focused and not self-focused. It’s also how you train your children and keep the priorities correct. Have these prayers with your children from infant until they leave home. They need to know by word and deed there is nothing before God. He is in every thought and practice of your life.
It has been my observation that there are so many distractions, each vying for our time, prevalent in our current society, that oftentimes we have a difficult time focusing our attention on God.
It is something we must work on every day. I’ve used training our children as examples of showing how to put God first because training them is what I did until they graduated from college, but we need to keep training ourselves. It should never become “just a habit” to serve, study, pray, or win others to Christ. If we are not careful we can all allow other things to take first place in our lives. Funny thing is it can happen so subtly that we don’t even realize it.
Nine different times in the Bible God states the thought of the following verse. Once should be enough, but anything in the Bible, that is repeated so often, stresses its obvious importance and preeminence. We should take these admonitions very seriously.
Mark 12:30 “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.”
Here are some other references: Deuteronomy 6:5, 10:12, 11:13, 13:3, 30:6; Joshua 22:5; Matthew 22:37; Luke 10:27
