The first commandment God gives us is – You shall have no other gods before me. (Exodus 20:3) When God gave this commandment to Moses, the Israelites had escaped slavery in Egypt, through God’s power, and they were dwelling in Sinai as free people. In Exodus 20:2, the verse before the first commandment, God references the Israelites’ oppression in Egypt. He says, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” Then, what follows is the first commandment. Why? Because only a relationship with God can free us from a house of slavery. Only God can break what chains us. To place ‘no other gods before God’ is to recognize
my heart is made to only run on his fuel.
Nothing or no one else can match the freedom God provides. Nothing or no one else can break what chains my heart. In the first commandment, God is saying – Don’t have any other gods before me because I am the one and only God who can truly free you. I am the ultimate freedom giver. I am the one who will break your chains. Do not look for freedom anywhere else because you will not find it there. You can only find freedom in me, so seek me. Invest in me. I am the one who frees you, so love me first. Put me first in your life and in your heart because only I can bring you freedom.
What’s tragic is the Israelites, upon receiving the Ten Commandments, say they will do all that the Lord has spoken (Exodus 24:3) then they make a golden calf, worship it, and proclaim the fashioned idol is what brought them out of the land of Egypt (Exodus 32:4)! They create a man-made item and credit it as the freedom giver and the one who rescues. They fueled their hearts with something other than God.
King David knew the secret of being fueled by God alone – having a heart aligned to the Word of God. Before his death, David prays about his son’s heart. In 1 Chronicles 29:19, David asks the Lord to “grant to Solomon [his son] a whole heart that he may keep your commandments, your testimonies, and your statutes, performing all.” David knew his son would avoid a lot of unnecessary heartbreak, struggle, and oppression if his heart was tuned to God’s voice. David’s prayer for his son is my prayer for my sons. I pray they both have a whole heart for the Lord and are men of his Word, who not only know what the Lord instructs but do what the Lord instructs. I want my children to understand that their hearts are the wellspring of their lives – that their thought life, motives, and behavior all flow from their hearts. I know if my sons are sold out for Christ in their hearts, they will live unchained, completely free and satisfied.
God wants to free his people from their houses of slavery. It’s why he gave the first commandment for us to follow. It’s why he sent his son for us to follow. At the beginning of his public ministry, Christ says that God the Father has sent him to “proclaim liberty to the captives and set at liberty those who are oppressed” (Luke 4:18). He reads from what the prophet Isaiah spoke about the messianic servant (Isaiah 61). Christ is saying – I am the messianic servant. I am the one who will free you. And how does he do it? He speaks liberty to me through his Word, which he lived out in the flesh then consecrated in his death and resurrection. He takes me from my house of slavery which can range from vain imaginings to thinking that a certain status, income, or look will free me. When I align my heart to God’s Word, I remember what truly satisfies me. I remember what real freedom is and who provides it.