Thou Shalt Have No Other Gods

Exodus 20:1 And God spake all these words, saying,
2 I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

INTRODUCTORY THOUGHTS

God expects loyalty from man. He is not interested in “worship” that involves Him being one of man’s many gods. In fact, He adamantly opposed this position within the Ten Commandments. There the Lord admonished His people to “have no other gods before” Him (Exodus 20:3). He then warned them not to make nor bow in worship to idols (Exodus 20:4-5). The Lord earned Israel’s loyalty in many ways, but the Bible specifically points to His delivering them from Egypt. It is important to note that God does not expect blind loyalty from man, but He certainly deserves this type of loyalty. He earned man’s loyalty by being his Creator. Yet His ultimate claim to loyalty stems from His offering to redeem fallen man though man is completely unworthy.

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS

(For children):God is the only true God (Isaiah 44:6). He knows idols cannot help anyone (Psalm 115:3-9). Remember Elijah’s contest (1 Kings 18:25-39). God told His people to break the idols (Exodus 34:13-14) and not even to speak of them (Exodus 23:13).

(For everyone):What are some reasons why you should be loyal to the Lord? What has He done to earn your loyalty? How loyal have you been to Him?

(For everyone):How is it disloyal to have other gods before the Lord? How is it disloyal to bow down to or worship things other than the Lord? Have you been disloyal to the Lord? Has He been disloyal to you?

PRAYER THOUGHTS

Thank God for being loyal to you!

Ask the Lord to teach you what it means to be loyal.

SONG

O Worship the King!

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