“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)
Why are the Ten Commandments so important to Christians? After all, they are the first part of the Law of Moses, and Jesus fulfilled that Law. Believers in Jesus are saved by grace, not by keeping the “ten words” of God to the Israelites.
But wait! Think about this for a minute. Is the New Testament “Christian” God different from the God of Israel? Not at all. God is God, and he does not change. More: Nine of the big ten in Exodus 20 are completely restated and reinforced by the inspired writers of the New Testament.
Maybe most importantly: God came before his chosen people and gave them these ten commands as the introduction to everything else he would tell them to do. These ten rules for living tells us an enormous amount about what our God is like, what he values, what he wants from us.
Number 1: He wants to be your only god. (More tomorrow.)
Think: What value do you place on the Ten Commandments? Can you put too much emphasis on them? Can you put too little?
Pray: Thank God for giving these ten words to his people Israel and for revealing them to you. Ask him to help you to never put any kind of god – or anything else – in his place in your life.
Do: Read through Exodus 20:1-21 to get ready to think about the Ten Commandments this week.