Exodus 20:1–3 (NKJV)— 1 And God spoke all these words, saying: 2 “I am
the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the
house of bondage. 3 “You shall have no other gods before Me.
The Israelites had been freed from the Egyptians! Now they had a problem.
The God they were to worship. Were they going to worship Him?
Freedom brings responsibility.
We as freed people do not want to have someone tell us what we should do.
Even in freedom we still have boundaries. Within those boundaries, we have
all the freedom we could ever ask to have.
The Ten Commandments do not restrict our freedom but lay out the
boundaries for living a successful life. We may say we do not like to have
boundaries imposed upon us. Take just a moment and list the boundaries
you face every day. In just a moment I am going to get in my car and drive
from my house to the church. I will face the boundaries of driving on the
correct side of the road, stop signs, traffic lights, staying on the road, speed
limits, vehicles in front of me and behind me and other boundaries not
listed.
Boundaries exist! Violate the boundaries and there are consequences. God
has given us boundaries not to restrict us but to give us freedom to live a
prosperous life filled with true joy and happiness.
Our first boundary is God. We discover we violate this boundary not just
daily but many times during the day. YOU SHALL HAVE NO OTHER GODS
BEFORE ME! Think back to yesterday. How many time did you put others
ahead of God, or things, or YOURSELF?
If this command is ignored all others will also.
The Ten Commandments will never save us. Salvation is not a reward for
good works. Salvation only comes through Jesus Christ. The Ten
Commandments reveals God’s righteousness and demands righteousness.
They are a mirror that reveals the sin in our lives.
The question we must ask is where is God in our life? Is He above all other
things including self? How many of the Commandments have we adhered
to? We cannot just wash away the sin. Only the blood of Jesus Christ can
cleanse us from sin.
1 John 1:7 “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have
fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses
us from all sin.”
Hebrews 10:22 “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith,
having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed
with pure water.”