JUL 13

Exodus 20:1-3
Memorise Exodus 20:3
“…thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, And him only shalt thou serve.”

The first of the Ten Commandments comes in the form of a simple one-liner: “Thou shalt have no other gods before me”. It is but a single sentence, but it is packed so full of meaning and is wide-ranging in its applications. It is the first and most important commandment, and sets the stage for obeying the rest of the commandments. If we cannot fully grasp this first commandment and have a sincere desire to obey it, then we would have difficulty in keeping the rest.

Primarily, this first commandment teaches us to place the LORD God as first in our lives. Nothing else should come even close to the priority that God must have. He must take first place, and everything else in your life would take a distant second.

Dear Teen, is this so in your life? I know it is so easy to get caught up with the many things that would grab our attention. The attractions of the world are great, with the fun and excitement that it seems to offer. The pressures are strong in luring us to conform to the fashions and trends of our fast-paced society. The high-tech gadgets, newly released computer games, latest hit drama series, popular reality TV shows and many other things vie for our time, attention and fascination. Pressures of schoolwork, CCA, friends and family also continue to bog us down, leaving us stressed, tired, bothersome and maybe even depressed.

Before we know it, all these things take priority in our lives, and God then becomes a distant second, or worse still, completely fades out of the picture and has no place at all in our lives! When we need Him most, we ignore Him, forget about Him, and instead, chase after the pleasure of this life, and try to solve our problems with our own wisdom. Has this been happening in your life?

We need to return to the very first commandment, and ask God to teach us how we ought to put Him first above all things. God alone must be preeminent in our lives. Not our movies, computer games, pop idols, latest gadgets. Not even our family, loved ones, best friends, studies or CCAs. No, it has to be God first!

Thought: Have I allowed other things to take first place in my life?
Prayer: Oh Lord, help me to seek You first above all things.