(#1224, Imperial, c1968)
Read Exodus 20:3.
The Ten Commandments are not a basis for salvation for
they were addressed to a redeemed people (Ex. 20:2). They become relevant to us today when we
understand that the Bible deals in principles applicable to every age (Rom.
15:4). What God once said to Israel He
is trying to break through into our modern situation.
Every man must have a God.
You may not call Him God but he is there. Martin Luther once asked, "What means it
to have a god?" He answered his own
question: Whatever thy heart clings to
and relies upon, that is properly thy god.
The question is not whether we believe but in whom or what we believe.
The first commandment states, "Thou shalt have no
other god before me." It is a
matter of priority. As Elijah presented
to Israel on Mount Carmel, "If the Lord is God follow Him, but if Baal,
then follow him" (1 Kings 18:21).
Modern threats to the priority of God.
1. Individualism. Pre-occupation with self. It is the business and professional person
who becomes absorbed with individual success.
He has no time for God. It is the
rebellion on our college campuses and among extremist groups. It all centers in the exalted concept of
self.
2. Nationalism. "My country right or wrong."
3. Institutionalism. This can involve religion: denominations or
our particular church or mission agency can claim loyalty that belongs to God
alone.
4. Materialism. This is the insistence that comfort, pleasure
and wealth are the highest goals of life.
5. Secularism. This may involve technology or the Great Society. These cannot take care of nor remedy any ills
of society.
Conclusion
What are the real driving forces of your actions when you
are free to act as you wish? We need to
evaluate those objectives to which we give the greatest thought, time,
attention or priority.
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