Exodus 20:3 You shall have no other gods before me.… "No other gods before Me." That is, "No other gods in My presence; in sight of Me." God will not share His sovereignty with any being. And this is the commonest way of breaking this Commandment in our day. There is no danger of breaking it through over-loving a fellow-creature, through loving a child, or a wife, or a parent, or a friend, too dearly. It is a frightful error to suppose that. But it is possible for us to think that God's power must be supplemented by man's power, by man's influence, by man's wealth, by man's work. A pastor may lean on God: — and a rich member of his congregation; but not without breaking the First Commandment. A politician may think that, besides God's favour, he must have popular favour, to give him success. A business man may have it in his mind that public sentiment — even against strict right — must be yielded to in his business, although he believes in God as above all. A parent may feel that fashion and wealth have a power that cannot be dispensed with in giving his child a desirable place in life. A professed Christian may feel that Jesus Christ will save him, if only he does enough for his own salvation. All these are ways of breaking the First Commandment; not very uncommon ways, either! (H. C. Trumbull.) Parallel Verses KJV: Thou shalt have no other gods before me. |
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