The Basis for Everything Else – First Commandment

The Basis for Everything Else

The First Commandment

Exodus, 20.2, 3; Deuteronomy 5.6, 7

“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.”

The first commandment is the cornerstone.

The first commandment is the cornerstone of all the Law and will of God. If we get this one down, obedience to the others will come much more easily. Life is a little like a football team in that respect. We show up for practice the first day and God says, “I’m coach and this is the playbook.” We would be idiots to think we could win as a team by listening to other “coaches” or trying to follow the assignments in the playbooks of other teams. Life is like that. God has assembled us as His team. He knows the game better than we do, and He has a scenario in His divine playbook to ensure that we gain yards with every snap of the ball. He is the Lord our God and we are His people, who live constantly before His loving and watchful eye. We will win in the game of life if we keep it this way, trusting in Jesus and clinging to His testimonies – beginning with this first and most important one.

Pray

Teach me to delight in Your Law, O Lord, to love it so much that I read and meditate in it daily and live in obedience to it in every area of my life. I believe this is the way of life – not to gain salvation (Jesus has given me that) but to enjoy the salvation You have given me through Him.

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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.