No Other Gods

YOU SHALL HAVE NO OTHER GODS BEFORE ME. Exodus 20.3.

Do you know that over a billion Indian Hindus worship about 64 million gods of all shapes and sizes and about the same number of Buddhists bow before the numerous statues of Buddha in all kinds of posture and paint? A neighbour of mine gave us a gift some time ago – a pewter mug with the monkey god, Hanuman, sculptured on it, without thinking that we were Christians, though Indians!

The God Almighty always reveals Himself to those who seek Him, and search for Him diligently. That is His promise. "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you," declares the LORD" (Jer 29.14). The Lord God chose to reveal Himself to a man, Abraham as He began his search for the True God, leaving the many idol gods of his forefathers. But as his descendants became a nation, they slowly reverted to the worship of the idol gods of their neighbours.

It was then, God gave Moses, another man who decided throw aside wealth, power and prestige to seek the true God, a vision of Himself and a fuller revelation. God appeared to him in 'the burning bush' in the Sinai Desert. This is how God revealed Himself to Moses, "God passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation." Moses bowed to the ground at once and worshiped (Ex 34.6-8 ).

God wanted all His own people, Israel, to know and worship Him only. So He gave the very first of the Ten Commandments: "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. "You shall have no other gods before me" (Ex 20.2,3).

Dear friend, do not be deceived. You may say that you worship only the True God. You may believe because you are a Christian or a Sunday church-goer you are worshipping the True God. But if you are seeking wealth, fame and fortune all your waking moments and have no time or energy left to seek your God, by listening to Him and talking to Him, it is time for you to pause and think, "Who or what is your God?"

Gold and silver are necessary for life. They are meant to serve you. But many in the church today have become bond slaves to them? Are you so? Have you become so obsessed chasing after them that you will cease to be a God-seeker or ‘God-chaser!’ Do you want only to become richer? Is all that you can think about health, wealth and prosperity? Do all your conversations revolve around making more money? The people you admire, talk about and desire to imitate, are they the world’s successful and rich? But you do not care to know or want to know those who sought hard after God and gained spiritual wealth!

What occupies your mind determines who your ‘god’ is and what you worship! On Sundays, you may go to the church and worship but your attitude from Monday to Saturday determines whom you worship – God or mammon! Jesus told His disciples, "No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money" (Lk 16.13).

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, save me from loving money so much and pursuing after it so hard that I spend all my time slogging for it and not seeking You. Amen.