I am the Lord your God… you shall have no other gods before Me.
The first of the Ten Commandments.
How important is this first command?
“Martin Luther articulated that the first commandment appears first because it is the foundation for all the other commandments. He said that if We keep the first commandment, we will keep all the others. And if we break another commandment, it is because we have already broken the first commandment. For example, if you break the commandment to “not give false testimony,” it is because you have rejoiced in something other than God, something that seems worthy of your lies. If you break the commandment not to covet, you have first elevated the thing you are coveting as the object of your affection. You have made it your god.”
Using this same track of thought, we find that Jesus indicated that the greatest commandment in all of Scripture is to love God with all that is within you, and that the next most important commandment is to love others as much as you love yourself. So we really only need to obey these key commands to be fully obedient to God, but because we can be a bit dense at times, God took time to spell out how these primary commandments should be lived out. But all of the commands in the Bible come back to these key commands.
“Luther Wrote, “Under every behavioral sin is the sin of idolatry.” When we sin, We are ultimately worshiping something other than God, placing an idol on the throne of our lives.”
To place anyone other than God on the throne of our lives and hearts, we must first ask God to step down from the throne. This One who we said would be Lord, we boldly walk up to Him and say – Jesus, would You mind stepping off the throne for a while. I need You to hand back to me the royal crown and the royal robes. Just stand over here to the side while I place this idol on the throne to worship for a time. And this One who is the King of kings and Lord of lords, though He maintains all authority in earth and heaven, steps off the throne of your life until you are ready to repent and give Him control again.
Today, when you are tempted to worship something other than Jesus, remember how your worship of lesser things equates to you asking Jesus to step off the throne. Allow that imagery to help you keep Him in His rightful place as Lord and Master of your life.
(Quotes from ‘Creature of the Word’ by Matt Chandler)