Sunday, February 5, 2017

No Other Gods!

“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." Ex 20:2-3

The First Commandment as taught to our children from Luther's Small Catechism
"You shall have no other gods.
What does this mean? We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things."

I spent many, many, years as a wife of a U.S. Marine. They have a saying: "God, Country, Corps." That is the proper order. God always comes first. There can be no other gods. There can be no other priorities. When faithfulness to God comes first, faithfulness to our other obligations just falls into place, with the help of God. But, if we cannot be faithful to God, then we will not be faithful to anything or anyone else, either.

As a Marine Corps wife, I spent a lot of time raising two sons alone as my husband was deployed for far more than half of his career. I had no other family near. As bad as that might sound, it was a good thing. Through this time, I learned that there is one I can trust all of the time and that is God. Through this time, I learned that there was one who loved me like no other. God was there when no one else was. I wasn't always thrilled with the way He worked things out; but, I came to know and trust that no matter how He was working them out; they were being worked out for the good.

The best thing that we can do for our loved ones, for our country, for our world, is to fear, love and trust God above all things; to put Him first in our lives; and to follow in the way that He would have us go. His plan is perfect for us. Ours is not.

God's Peace - Pr. J

No comments: