TEN (2): One & Only
The Ten Commandments were not given as a condition of God’s love, God’s approval or God’s acceptance.
The Ten Commandments were given as evidence of God’s approval, love and acceptance.
God initiated a relationship.
God’s people trusted.
God delivered.
Then God gave the law.
God spoke all these words: “I am the LORD your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery” (Exodus 20:1 NIV).
“You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3 NIV).
“You should not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below” (Exodus 20:4 NIV).
God’s saying, “Not only do I want to be your one and only God, but I don’t want you to attempt to build any kind of monument, any kind of statue or form anything with your hands that represent Me.”
God wants to be the center of every decision, the One you go to for everything, the One you depend on.
If you take God out of the center, everything else is just rule keeping.
“You shall not bow down to them or worship them” (Exodus 20:5 NIV).
“For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God” (Exodus 20:5 NIV).
“I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me” (Exodus 20:5 NIV).
If you try to organize your life around any other god—god with a little “g”—anything other than the one true God, there will be a consequence.
"But showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments” (Exodus 20:6 NIV).
We need to be careful about what we put in the center of our lives.
God isn’t trying to make you good. God’s ultimate goal isn’t trying to make bad people good. God just wants to keep free people free.
Has there ever been a time that you made a decision to let God be at the center of your life?
Bottom Line: The most important decision you make is what you place in the center of your life.