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Numero Uno





And God spoke all these words:
“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.   (Exodus 20:1-3)


      People who hope to discredit God to me have asked me what sort of petty, jealous god God must be that he pitches a major fit and makes the first of His commandments that we have no other god before Him. There are a number of factors here: the Jewish Law followed the legal pattern of contracts between kings and their people that was common in that day. The first commandment  effective says, "If you are going to follow Me, then you have to follow me and not just claim to follow me while you actually follow someone  or something else." For the people to agree to accept God as their ruler and then turn to another god like someone pledging allegiance to America then joining those whose goal is to overthrow the American government. It makes their pledge of allegiance a lie. It breaks their vow. It is treason. In fact, it is only because they added "under God" to the  Pledge of Allegiance in 1954 that I believe Christians can give their pledge to this country.
       There is another reason why "You shall have no other god before me," is not arbitrary, but is actually a logical, reasonable, natural law. If God is the God of the universe, its creator and Lord, then there are actually no other gods to be before God. Putting one (or more) there is not only treason against God, it's treason against the one who does it. If there are no other gods, then to follow one is to lie to oneself. It's delusional.  It goes against common sense. Rather than being a "big, nasty, narcissistic bully of a god," this first commandment brings us face to face with reality and logic. We can't serve two masters. If one alternative exists and the other doesn't, or if one alternative is actually a god, and the others are something else - then why in the world would any sane person choose to serve what either doesn't exist or doesn't measure up? The first commandment is not arbitrary or unreasonable. It's a reality check.
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January 17:
Birthday of Benjamin Franklin


 



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