Free in Him to Love – The First Commandment

Free in Him to Love

Exodus 20:2, 3

“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.”

Through the powerful redemption of God’s sovereign grace, we are slaves no more to those things which can never satisfy. Now we belong to the true Fount of Blessing, the Wellspring of Joy, the Hope of Glory, and the Light of Love. One who loves us so much will surely never seek to enslave us again, but only teach us how with joy to serve Him within the bounds of all that is holy and righteous and good – all that truly sets us free. He will show us how to love Him, and how to share His love with our neighbors. This is why He has given us His Law. But we must be on guard against any tendency to embrace other deities besides God, or along with Him. They will all lie and deceive us into slavery once again; only God can keep us in the liberty that makes us truly free.

How can you tell when something else is beginning to compete for the attention and affection that God alone deserves? How do you check that tendency whenever it appears?

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“In the Gates” is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore

T. M. Moore is 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.

Editor’s note: The use of a translation other than the Authorised Version in an article does not constitute an endorsement in whole or in part by The Christian Observer.