WHY THE FIRST IS FIRST

    Did you ever wonder why the First Commandment is first, other than the fact that God gave them to Moses and obviously wanted to make sure everyone knew from whence they came and who was really most important in their lives? From a human point of view we might easily assume that God was being a little self-serving when God insisted that the most important commandment, the most important rule in our life, is that we have no other god except God.

    It would make sense to think that way. In a work environment the first rule is to obey the boss. All other rules and regulations follow. We may be a very conscientious employee, do our job well, always arrive at work on time and never leave work early, never ever take even a paper clip or a used pencil, and treat our fellow workers with respect. That is all well and good and even necessary for a great working environment. But if we disobey the boss, none of it really matters and is almost all for naught. So, of course, the first commandment is to obey the boss or, in our case, The Boss.

    Yet, the truth is, if we do not obey this first commandment, it will be very difficult to keep all the rest. On the other hand, if we, in fact, do make God first in our lives, it will be much easier to keep the other nine commandments. The rest follow and flow from the first. For what matters first and foremost is who our God/god really is. If something else such as money or career, becomes first in our lives, becomes our god, then the other nine will never be kept as they should.

    Consider: if we make something else, our career, for instance, our god, we have already broken Number Two. It is already an idol, a false god. We will sacrifice family, health, whatever we must, to enhance that career. When things do not go right for us, we will curse that god for so controlling us and even curse God for allowing it to happen. As for Sabbath Rest, well, that goes the way of everything else that slows us down in our race to the top.

    What is worse is that our relationships with those who matter most, who should matter most, family and friends, deteriorate in this service of what has become our god. We no longer have time for them because this new god consumes our time. We will step on those who get in our way; we will lie and cheat and steal, covet what we do not have until we have it, all in the service of this god of ours.

    Not a pretty picture is it? It is certainly not one we see ourselves part of but which we all have been a part sometime in our lives. It is so easy to make something so all-important that everything else takes second place, and a distant second at that. When that happens, we have, intentionally or not, made that something into a god.

    That is why the First Commandment is indeed first. Keeping it keeps us focused on what is most important in our lives. Even when we begin to lose focus and chase after some other god, which helps us so easily to forget about and break the rest of those Commandments, we will not lose sight of just who is Number One, thanks be God.                                                                                                             WJP