No other gods

Exodus 20: 3: “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”

We have seen that God’s commandments are really offers of choice for the Lord doesn’t force anyone to do something they don’t want to do. However, if a person chooses to have a relationship with God then that person can only have that relationship on God’s terms. God made us and knows more about us than we know about ourselves. This means that we can only take full advantage of God’s goodness and love if we accept the truth of His wisdom and appreciate all the good things that He does for us from day to day and well as in the long term. God had taken Israel from slavery in Egypt and He promised them a Land of their own that was flowing with milk and honey (Ex 3: 8, “And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.”) The Lord did this so that He could, ultimately, satisfy the promise that He made to Abraham when He first called Abraham (Gen 12: 3, “And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.”) All the people of the earth would have access to this blessing if the Lord’s people satisfied His Law and drew the families of the earth to Him. The same condition is true for Christians. If we want to enjoy the full benefits of God’s love we must accept that He is God and always knows what is best for us.