The First Commandment – No Other gods

The First Commandment

No other gods

Deuteronomy 6:4-9

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

Ephesians 5:15-17; Colossians 4:6

Those who are not yet sufficiently mature or wise to take up reading and study in God’s Law we must teach. “Children” here can stand for any who have not yet begun to internalize God’s Law on their own. Since we are all also children of our heavenly Father, we should seek out teachers who can help us to understand the beauty and blessedness of living within the Law of God.

We are to teach the Law of God diligently. The word conveys intentionality, consistency, earnestness, urgency, and clarity, with a view to practical outcomes in our lives. Heads households, pastors, teachers, friends–all must make the teaching of God’s Law as high a priority as that of learning the Law, for only in obedience to the Law of liberty do we find the blessedness God intends for us (Jas. 1:22-25).

In this series of In the Gates we present a detailed explanation of the Law of God, beginning with the Ten Commandments, and working through the statutes and rules that accompany each commandment. For a practical guide to the role of God’s Law in the practice of ethics, get The Ground for Christian Ethics by going to www.MyParuchia.com and click on our Book Store.

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore, editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001, 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.