FILL 'ER UP - We can’t spend our lives chasing pleasures, living by our own code of ethics, always putting ourselves first. That’s placing us before God — making little gods of ourselves. When we trust and obey God, we put Him in the rightful place as Lord of our lives. We align our wants with what He wants. We respect His authority in our lives as our Heavenly Father. Jesus Christ is the perfect example of the proper relationship to the Father. He sought time alone with Him, counsel from Him, and He totally surrendered to God’s plan. The Ten Commandments to Moses for His people was not so much a list of do’s and don’ts, as some might interpret - it was God’s plumb line for humanity. God wanted us to walk in abundant life, not death - days with purpose. "There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death." - You’ve got to know something’s wrong when you pass numerous broken down cars on your usually smooth commute. A delivery truck had pumped the wrong fuel in underground tanks at several gas stations. Many Virginia motorists who had filled their tanks with Regular gas got Diesel instead. Some cars sputtered down the highway and others seized up entirely. The pump was labeled Regular. Why would they expect anything else? King Solomon, one of Israel’s greatest leaders, revered for godly wisdom, wrote about assuming you're getting the right thing in Proverbs: "There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death."

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Fill 'Er Up

We can’t spend our lives chasing pleasures, living by our own code of ethics, always putting ourselves first. That’s placing us before God — making little gods of ourselves. 

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When we trust and obey God, we put Him in the rightful place as Lord of our lives. We align our wants with what He wants. We respect His authority in our lives as our Heavenly Father. Jesus Christ is the perfect example of the proper relationship to the Father. He sought time alone with Him, counsel from Him, and He totally surrendered to God’s plan. 

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The Ten Commandments to Moses for His people was not so much a list of do’s and don’ts, as some might interpret - it was God’s plumb line for humanity. God wanted us to walk in abundant life, not death - days with purpose.

Beth Patch - Senior Producer

 

"There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death." - Proverbs 14:12 (NLT)

 

You’ve got to know something’s wrong when you pass numerous broken down cars on your usually smooth commute.

In July 2018, a delivery truck had pumped the wrong fuel in underground tanks at several gas stations.

Many Virginia motorists who had filled their tanks with Regular gas got Diesel instead.

Some cars sputtered down the highway and others seized up entirely.

I’ve often thought about these drivers. It seemed so right filling their cars that day.

The pump was labeled Regular. Why would they expect anything else?

King Solomon, one of Israel’s greatest leaders, revered for godly wisdom, wrote about assuming you're getting the right thing in Proverbs:

"There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death." - Proverbs 14:12 (NLT)

I recognize that path. It’s the avenue society says is best for me, too.

The one where I figure out what makes me happy and how to get it — the all-about-me road.

I spend my time doing things I enjoy, buying things I like, and seeking a safe, comfortable life.

I decide what’s right and wrong, what’s fair and unfair.

It does seem right. It seems normal.

What could be wrong with it? I’m not hurting anyone else. We all think this way sometimes.

Problem is that kind of thinking can lead us down a dark path.

Solomon says it ends in death. Spiritual Death.

Sputtering away from the path God intended.

Dying, separated from the abundant life God planned for us.

The first commandment given to Moses says, “You must not have any other god but me.” Exodus 20:3 (NLT)

That includes us. We can’t spend our lives chasing pleasures, living by our own code of ethics, always putting ourselves first.

That’s placing us before God — making little gods of ourselves.

When we trust and obey God, we put Him in the rightful place as Lord of our lives. We align our wants with what He wants.

We respect His authority in our lives as our Heavenly Father.

Jesus Christ is the perfect example of the proper relationship to the Father.

He sought time alone with Him, counsel from Him, and He totally surrendered to God’s plan.

Even in the face of crucifixion, Jesus said, 

"I want your will to be done, not mine." - Luke 22:42 (NLT)

When Jehovah God delivered the Ten Commandments to Moses for His people (Exodus 20:1-20), it was not so much a list of do’s and don’ts, as some might interpret.

It was God’s plumb line for humanity. He wanted us to walk in abundant life, not death. Days with purpose.

The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.” - Psalm 32:8 (NLT)

Oh Lord Jesus, please help us to know when we are fueling our earthly vessels with the emptiness of this world.

We need discernment from the Holy Spirit as we are prone to stray without even knowing it.

Accept our confession, oh merciful God. We are guilty of putting ourselves before You.

We don't want to have any other god but You.

Please forgive us, change us, and rescue us from ourselves — put us on Your pathway for our lives.

Thank you for your unending grace and faithfulness.

Amen.

Can God change your life?

God has made it possible for you to know Him and experience an amazing change in your own life.

Discover how you can find peace with God. You can also send us your prayer requests.

Beth Patch

- Senior Producer

Beth Patch is a writer and CBN.com's Senior Spiritual Life Internet producer/editor.

She holds a MA in Journalism from Regent University in Virginia Beach, Virginia and a BA in Mass Communications from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia. She also holds a Virginia Real Estate Salesperson license. After 17 years in a professional real estate career, Beth had what she calls a mid-life calling (as opposed to a mid-life crisis), to step away from real estate and follow God's leading into Christian media, where she serves in her current position.

She has a passion to present inspirational writings and media content to a global audience. She represents CBN as an acquisitions editor and leads workshops at several Christian Writers Conferences.

https://www1.cbn.com/devotions/fill-er-up

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WHY DID MOSES BREAK THE TABLETS? - The Torah-mandated capital punishment for idolatry. If Moses would give the Torah to the Jews at this point, they would be condemned to death, so he instead broke the tablets to save the Jews. Others explain that Moses broke the tablets in order to discourage God from implementing His plan to annihilate the Jewish people for their sin, and to recreate a new chosen nation from Moses and his descendants. Upon breaking the tablets, Moses told God, “Now I am a sinner just like them. If You decide to eradicate them, destroy me as well.” This can be compared to a king who went abroad, and left his betrothed with the maidservants. Because of the immoral behavior of the maidservants, she acquired a bad reputation. Her “bridesman” (the person appointed to defend the bride should any problems arise) arose and tore up her marriage contract. He said, ‘If the king decides to kill her, I will say to him, “She is not yet your wife.”’ A classic explanation is that the tablets, two large sapphire stones, weighed too much to be possibly carried by a single human being; instead, the divinely etched letters engraved within them miraculously lightened them, enabling Moses to carry the tablets. When the letters “saw” the golden calf which the Jewish people had made, they were revolted and “flew” out of the tablets, back to their divine source — leaving Moses with a burden he could not bear, and which he therefore dropped.

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Why Did Moses Break the Tablets?

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The Torah-mandated capital punishment for idolatry. If Moses would give the Torah to the Jews at this point, they would be condemned to death, so he instead broke the tablets to save the Jews. Others explain that Moses broke the tablets in order to discourage God from implementing His plan to annihilate the Jewish people for their sin, and to recreate a new chosen nation from Moses and his descendants. Upon breaking the tablets, Moses told God, “Now I am a sinner just like them. If You decide to eradicate them, destroy me as well.”

By Baruch S. Davidson

 

Question:

Why did Moses break the tablets?

I heard that his reason was the Torah-mandated capital punishment for idolatry. If he would give the Torah to the Jews at this point, they would be condemned to death, so he instead broke the tablets to save the Jews. Is this correct? Are there other reasons too?

 

Answer:

The midrashim and various biblical commentaries suggest many reasons to explain Moses’ action. The following are a few of them:

1) The explanation which you wrote is indeed found in the Midrash. Rashi, the foremost commentator on the Torah, quotes a similar explanation:

    This can be compared to a king who went abroad, and left his betrothed with the maidservants. Because of the immoral behavior of the maidservants, she acquired a bad reputation. Her “bridesman” (the person appointed to defend the bride should any problems arise) arose and tore up her marriage contract. He said, ‘If the king decides to kill her, I will say to him, “She is not yet your wife.”’

2) Another explanation quoted by Rashi is that Moses made the following calculation:

    He said [to himself]: If [in regard to] the Passover sacrifice, which is [merely] one of the commandments, the Torah said: “No estranged one may partake of it” — [now that] the entire Torah is here [i.e., the Ten Commandments include the whole Torah], and all the Israelites are apostates, shall I give it to them?

3) A classic explanation is that the tablets, two large sapphire stones, weighed too much to be possibly carried by a single human being; instead, the divinely etched letters engraved within them miraculously lightened them, enabling Moses to carry the tablets.

    When the letters “saw” the golden calf which the Jewish people had made, they were revolted and “flew” out of the tablets, back to their divine source — leaving Moses with a burden he could not bear, and which he therefore dropped.

4) Others explain that Moses broke the tablets in order to discourage G‑d from implementing His plan to annihilate the Jewish people for their sin, and to recreate a new chosen nation from Moses and his descendants (see Exodus 32:10).

    Upon breaking the tablets, he told G‑d, “Now I am a sinner just like them. If You decide to eradicate them, destroy me as well.”

Rabbi Baruch S. Davidson

 

Rabbi Baruch S. Davidson is a writer who lives with his family in Brooklyn, N.Y.

https://www.chabad.org/parshah/article_cdo/aid/487225/jewish/Why-Did-Moses-Break-the-Tablets.htm

 

YOU SHALL HAVE NO OTHER GODS BEFORE ME - God has given us the Ten Commandments - these commandments tell us how we should live. The first of these Commandments tells us that we were created to live our lives worshiping God and giving Him first place in our lives - it tells us that we should allow nothing interfere, interrupt, replace, or hinder our dedication to Him. When we do not live this way; when we allow anything to usurp God’s place as Lord of our lives, our lives will be out of kilter - The first of the Ten Commandments God gave to Moses reads “You shall have no other gods before me.” It would seem that anyone who understands just Who God is, would have no trouble putting Him first in their lives. Believers should almost automatically center their lives around worshiping Him. However, the biblical record, and the practical experience of believers everywhere, reveals that professing believers too often consider faithfulness to God a secondary, or minor, priority. Many professing believers consider God to be merely an add-on to their lives instead of our Source, Reason, Judge, Sustainor, Savior, and Future. The phrase, “No other gods before me” does not mean that God merely wants us to organize our gods with Him at the top. It does not mean that, as long as we worship God first, we are free to have other gods also. It means that there are to be no other gods in our lives but the one true God. It is saying that we are to have no other gods in God’s sight.

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You Shall Have No Other Gods 
Before Me

Lesson and Life Application

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God has given us the Ten Commandments - these commandments tell us how we should live. The first of these Commandments tells us that we were created to live our lives worshiping God and giving Him first place in our lives - it tells us that we should allow nothing interfere, interrupt, replace, or hinder our dedication to Him. When we do not live this way; when we allow anything to usurp God’s place as Lord of our lives, our lives will be out of kilter

by Robert Driskell

The first of the Ten Commandments God gave to Moses reads thus from the English Standard Version of the Bible: “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3).

It would seem that anyone who understands just Who God is, would have no trouble putting Him first in their lives.

Believers should almost automatically center their lives around worshiping Him.

However, the biblical record, and the practical experience of believers everywhere, reveals that professing believers too often consider faithfulness to God a secondary, or minor, priority.

I have written, in my book Spiritual Suicide: The Crisis of Casual Christianity, that one of the biggest problems with Christianity today is that Christians do not take seriously enough their relationship with God.

Many professing believers consider God to be merely an add-on to their lives instead of our Source, Reason, Judge, Sustainor, Savior, and Future.

“No other gods before me”

The phrase, “No other gods before me” does not mean that God merely wants us to organize our gods with Him at the top.

It does not mean that, as long as we worship God first, we are free to have other gods also.

It means that there are to be no other gods in our lives but the one true God.

The word translated ‘before’ in this verse does not have to do with time or ranking.

It is saying that we are to have no other gods in God’s sight.

In other words, we are to worship nothing else in our lives but the one true God. He is worthy of our complete and total commitment.

Ron Mehl, in his book The Ten(der) Commandments, speaks of the struggle all Christians face, “The greatest challenge I face every day of my life is probably the very one that you face every day… maintaining a close, personal, growing relationship with Jesus Christ. It is keeping Him first. Our number-one task as believers is to make sure that nothing — no “god,” person, object, task, duty, or pleasure — comes before Him in our priorities, in our plans, and in our affection” (Mehl, 41).

Alistair Begg echos Mehl when he reminds us of this sobering truth, “Anything or any person (including myself) that claims our primary loyalty has become ‘another God’” (Begg, 57).

Begg also notes that, “We make a grave mistake in assuming that because our houses are free of idols fashioned of metal, wood, or stone we have dealt with this [the First Commandment] and are ready to move on to the second commandment” (Begg, 57).

Tim Keller, in his book Counterfeit Gods, lists just some of the other ‘gods’ we may have in our lives.

This list includes, but I’m sure is not limited to, money, sex, power, and even family.

Anything that takes the place that only God should occupy in our lives.

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.

Love the Lord with everything you are

The Bible is very clear, in both the Old Testament and the New, as to what place God is to have in our lives.

Humanity is instructed, repeatedly, as to how we should exist, “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” (Mark 12:30 ESV; also see Deuteronomy 6:5, 10:12, 11:13, 13:3, 30:6; Joshua 22:5; Matthew 22:37; Luke 10:27).

Anything in the Bible, that is repeated so often, stresses its obvious importance and preeminence. We should take these admonitions very seriously.

Too often, we let the pursuit of the necessary crowd out our time with God.

With so many things going on in our lives, we sometimes even push Him out of our thoughts.

However, the Bible assures us that God will provide all those things we are chasing after, if we will put Him first in our lives (Matthew 6:33).

There exists no good reason for allowing anything to assume a more prominent place in our lives than God.

Conclusion

God has given us the Ten Commandments. These commandments tell us how we should live.

The first of these Commandments tells us that we were created to live our lives worshiping God and giving Him first place in our lives.

It tells us that we should allow nothing interfere, interrupt, replace, or hinder our dedication to Him.

When we do not live this way; when we allow anything to usurp God’s place as Lord of our lives, our lives will be out of kilter.

God will discipline us, in order to call attention to the fact that we are worshiping something other than Him.

He does this out of His great love for us.

However, if we continue to worship other things, we may find that we do not hear that great statement from Jesus on judgment day, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

Robert Driskell received a Bachelor of Arts degree in both Pastoral Ministries and Biblical Studies from Mid-America Christian University in 1995. He is convinced that the hope of the world lies in men and women having a saving relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ. Robert believes that the Bible contains the truth that God wants us to base our lives upon. He is passionate about understanding the Bible and helping others do the same. Only when one views life through the lens of the Bible can one arrive at a worldview based on truth. Robert is happily married and lives in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
https://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/you-shall-have-no-other-gods-before-me-lesson-and-life-application/

YOU SHALL NOT MAKE FOR YOURSELF ANY GRAVEN IMAGE - Identify your gods - confess your sin of idolatry to God - break the cycle of idolatry in your life. Then, renew your vows before God - tell Him that He alone is worthy - make Him the Lord of your life. When the Lord Jesus Christ is the focus of all praise and worship, everything and everyone else takes their rightful place - Idolatry is the worship of anything or anyone other than God. Think about this as we try to understand the enormous significance of God’s decree to Moses from the top of Mount Sinai. God created us so that we might worship Him. This commandment is both an encouragement and a warning to us: “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.” When we worship, we place our complete confidence and trust in God’s ability to do for us what neither we, nor anyone else, nor anything else, can do for us. This is what God expects and demands of all who believe in His name. The sweet aroma of worship between God and man was clearly seen in the beginning. God wants to have intimacy with us. He wants us to look to Him. He wants us to lean on Him.

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'You Shall Not Make For Yourself Any Graven Image'

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Identify your gods – pray and ask the Lord to help you. Confess your sin of idolatry to Him - break the cycle of idolatry in your life. Then, renew your vows before God - tell Him that He alone is worthy - make Him the Lord of your life. When the Lord Jesus Christ is the focus of all praise and worship, everything and everyone else takes their rightful place  

The Ten Commandments: Part One of Three

BY DON WILTON  

  

Idolatry is the worship of anything or anyone other than God. Think about this as we try to understand the enormous significance of God’s decree to Moses from the top of Mount Sinai.

To begin with, we must understand that God created us so that we might worship Him.

This commandment is both an encouragement and a warning to us: “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” (Exodus 20:4-5).

When we worship, we place our complete confidence and trust in God’s ability to do for us what neither we, nor anyone else, nor anything else, can do for us.

This is what God expects and demands of all who believe in His name.

The sweet aroma of worship between God and man was clearly seen in the beginning.

The fellowship God had with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden provides a precious picture of God’s intended purpose for those He loves.

He wants to have intimacy with us. He wants us to look to Him. He wants us to lean on Him.

He wants us to walk with Him. He wants us to be one with Him. He wants us to have peace with Him.

But when Adam and Eve sinned against God, this beautiful and harmonious relationship between the sovereign God and His created person was shattered.

Man had not only succumbed to the deceit of Satan, he had transferred his confidence away from God, thus violating God’s supreme demand.

It immediately became impossible for sinful man to have any semblance of fellowship with a righteous and holy God.

Consequently, man was thrown out. God would not share His holy space with another.

This is why the Lord Jesus Christ came to this Earth to take on Himself the sin of man. By virtue of His death and resurrection, Jesus conquered this rupture in the relationship between God and man.

When we confess our sin, repent before God and put our faith and trust in Him, we can, once again, have peace with God.

The Israelites did not get it. After more than 400 years of slavery, God delivered them.

He parted the sea and provided every means for them to survive — even in the wilderness.

And yet, when their leader went up Mount Sinai to hear from the Lord, they began to worship another god.

Our world is not very different. How blessed we are. Despite so many who have immense needs and who suffer greatly, we are still a blessed people.

As a hymn writer has reminded us; “Count your blessings, name them one by one. And it will surprise you what the Lord has done!”

Despite our blessings, we have become an increasingly idolatrous people.

God cannot be pleased. We worship so many of our blessings instead of simply thanking God for them and enjoying them.

We worship sport, celebrities, clothes, money, church buildings, politics, positions, abilities and capabilities.

Idolatry is the worship of anything or anyone other than God.

So, what should we do? This second commandment is no joke. After all, it is here that God invokes our children.

Why would the Lord involve our children and grandchildren? Here is what I suggest we do in order to grasp fully God’s intended understanding of this commandment.

Five things will help position us to hear from the Lord.

First, pray. Talk to the Lord. Have a conversation with Him.

Second, affirm His greatness. God wants us to praise His name. Jesus taught us to do this upfront when He said: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name” (Matthew 6:9).

Third, release any and all personal opinions and pet peeves about what you have and what you may think about this subject.

Tell the Lord Jesus you are letting go of anything and anyone other than God.

Fourth, listen! We are surrounded and constantly accompanied by a cacophony of sound and distraction so that it is increasingly difficult to listen to God.

Whatever it is, turn it off. Lay it down. Stop and listen, because the Lord will speak to you from the mountain.

Remember, the Ten Commandments are God’s invitation to come up to where He is, rather than to go down to where man is.

Finally, determine to obey. Make the decision to submit to all the Lord says, and you will be blessed indeed.

Having positioned ourselves before God, we now can consider the meaning of what it was God was saying about idols and images.

First, God was cementing an absolute truth. He is the only one we can trust in all things.

Jesus Christ affirmed this even at the entry point of salvation when He said: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

Back in the very beginning, God, who is both the beginning and the end, makes this truth both absolute and irrevocable.

He, alone, is worthy of worship because He alone is the only one qualified to “meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).

Second, He was settling an absolute issue. One of the foremost issues in our world today concerns which god is God.

“I am the Lord your God” (Exodus 20:2) summarily eliminates anything or anyone else — whether in Heaven or on Earth or under the Earth.

Third, God was charting an absolute course. He was showing us the way to forgiveness, reconciliation, peace and eternal life. No other god could offer what only He can offer.

Fourth, He was issuing an absolute warning. Whether we like it or not, God was warning all of us about the generational consequences of worshiping idols.

It is very clear in Deuteronomy that “each will die for their own sin” (Deuteronomy 24:16), but children reared in an idolatrous environment will become infected by that environment.

They will become practitioners of that environment. They will become victims of that environment.

Finally, God was giving an absolute invitation. From Genesis to Revelation we hear Him say, “Come to Me! Worship only Me. Trust in Me.”

Here is what I suggest you do. Identify your gods. Pray and ask the Lord to help you.

Confess your sin of idolatry to Him. Break the cycle of idolatry in your life.

Then, renew your vows before God. Tell Him that He alone is worthy. Make Him the Lord of your life.

Here is the bottom line: When the Lord Jesus Christ is the focus of all praise and worship, everything and everyone else takes their rightful place. 

Don Wilton is senior pastor of the First Baptist Church of Spartanburg, S.C., and president of “The Encouraging Word” broadcast ministry. He is a frequent speaker at The Cove, where he is scheduled to lead a Seminar this November. For more information about the Seminar, visit TheCove.org or call 1-800-950-2092 or 828-298-2092 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday.

https://billygraham.org/decision-magazine/march-2013/you-shall-not-make-for-yourself-any-graven-image/