No Other Gods
“You shall have no other gods before Me.”
— Exodus 20:3
Be honest. If God was to check your thoughts (and He does, by the way—like a mind reader), if He were to look at every thought you’ve had this past week, who would He say is your number one? Who is #1 in your life?
Because God’s first command isn’t, “Be good.”
It’s:
“You shall have no other gods before Me.”
The reason I say this is because I had a thought this week.
If God is the only true God, then why did He say, “You shall have no other gods before Me”?
Does that mean there are other gods?
No. There is only one true God. The others are either made up or are the enemy disguising himself, trying to take God’s place. If we’re not careful, we can let them into our lives without even realising.
So today we’re talking about what sits on the throne of your heart.
1. Other gods fail you.
When we hear the word “gods,” we often think of statues, idols, or even fictional characters like Thor from Marvel. Sometimes people trust these false gods more than God Himself.
People also trust things like magic, crystals, stars, horoscopes, and all kinds of foolish man-made beliefs more than they trust God. That’s how easy it is for us as humans to be fooled by the enemy.
A false god is anything that you trust more than the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Psalm 16:4 says “ those who run after other gods will suffer more and more”.
Now I don’t know about you but that doesn’t sound good.
Raise your hand if you want to suffer. It is quite obvious that no one will.
2. The Bible tells us what we need to hear not what we want to hear
People may ask, “Ok, if God is the one and only God than why doesn’t He make me do the right thing why doesn’t He force me to love him?” And the answer is because THAT’S NOT LOVE.
3. God gave you free will
So people say, “Why did he do that if he knows we are going to do dumb things with it?” and yes we sometimes do dumb things!
But God gave us free will because he’s not looking for slaves. He is looking for a family. He wants people who choose Him not people who were forced to.
Trust me, family is everything, just ask Vin Diesel.
Deuteronomy 30:19 says “ I have set before life and death... now choose life”.
4. God puts choice in front of us
Why? Because He wants people in His Kingdom who want to be there. He wants worship thats real and not fake, love that is chosen not controlled.
Who wants to be in the Kingdom of God? I do, because it sounds like a nice place.
5. Exodus 34:18 “For the Lord...is a jealous God”
People hear God is jealous and think He is insecure, no, He is jealous like a father, like a husband for his wife. He knows if we put other things first they’re gonna hurt us. He’s not mad that we might love something else, He’s heartbroken because He knows it will destroy us.
6. I don't know about you but I think WE should say yes!
Yes to:
Listen to God
Listen to Jesus
Listen to the Holy Spirit
Listen to your Pastors
Listen to your mums and dads
It’s in the Ten Commandments
See, when I put God first, everything else finds its right place. You stop being a slave to fear, to money, to what people think.
7. Matthew 6:33 “ but seek first his Kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well”
You see God first doesn’t mean you lose stuff it means you finally get peace.
Let me ask you something real quick what gets your best hours?
What do you spend time on without even thinking?
What messes you up the most when it’s threatened?
That thing is probably sitting on your throne.
This week I am challenging you to give God your first 10 minutes before your phone, before anything else. Tear down the other gods put Him back on the throne where He belongs.
Jesus didn’t die so we could add Him to our list He died to be our life!
Lets pray
Dear Heavenly Father show us what we’ve put before You, forgive us, help us to choose You to be first in our life, our thoughts, our time, our everything. You are the only true God who won’t fail us.
In Jesus name
Amen
Written by Freddie Hudson a young teenager who loves Jesus.
