DO NOT WORSHIP ANYTHING OTHER THAN THE LORD GOD

Proclamation:

“Do not worship any other god, for The Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.”  Exodus 34:14  “Do not make any idols.”  Exodus 34:17 (NIV)

Explanation:

These are the words of God which were written by Moses under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  After The Lord God gave Moses specific instructions for the Israelites regarding the Sabbath Day, He gave him two tablets of stone inscribed with the Ten Commandments and His covenant law. (Exodus 31:18)  However, because Moses stayed on the mountain of God so long, the people made themselves a god, an idol cast in gold in the shape of a calf, and worshiped it. (Exodus 32:1-8)  When Moses came down from the mountain of God and saw the golden calf and the dancing, he threw the stone tablets at them and then he destroyed the golden calf. (Exodus 32:19-20)  Then he said, “Whoever is for The Lord, come to me.”  All those who did not come to him were killed. (Exodus 32:26-29)  The Moses then chiseled out two smooth stone tablets, like the one he had broken and went back up to the mountain of God. (Exodus 34:1-5)  This time when Moses came down from the mountain of God, his face was radiant and the people listened to him. (Exodus 34:29-35)  Then the Israelites gathered all of the materials as The Lord God had instructed and the built the tabernacle (Exodus 36:8-38), the Arc of The Covenant (Exodus 37:1-9), and all of the other things as He had instructed them. (Exodus 37:10 through 40:33)

Application:

The first of the Ten Commandments is: “You shall have not other gods before Me.” (Exodus 20:3)  In His explanation of the second of the Ten Commandments He said, “… for I, The Lord your God, am a jealous God …” (Exodus 20:5)  Here in this text, He is reiterating that He is jealous, and that He wants nothing to be worshiped but Him.  Unfortunately, today some people worship other gods, and some people worship other people as their god.  Some people worship their spouse, their love one, or their children.  Some people even worship their cars, their homes, or some other material object which they possess.  Worship of anything other than The Lord God is a sin, and that offends His jealous nature.

Worship The Lord

"Jesus answered, 'It is written: Worship The Lord your God and serve Him only.' "  Luke 4:8 (NIV)

When Jesus was being tempted by Satan, one of the things that He said was that one should worship and serve only The Lord God. 

Worship is an act of ardent love, devotion, adoration, and reverent honor directed toward God.  While it can involve a physical act or action, it requires the complete involvement of mind, spirit and soul.  (John 4:24)  To worship is to give God glory.  (Psalms 29:2)  To worship we must be humble and prostrate ourselves before God, spiritually, if not also physically.  (Psalms 95:6)  We need to present ourselves as a living sacrifice to God.  (Romans 12:1)  We need to take our worship much more seriously.

Let Our Words Match Our Hearts

"These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. They worship Me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men." Matthew 15:8-9 (NIV)

Speaking to the people about the religious leaders, the Apostle Matthew quoted the Prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 13:29) saying that they were honoring God with their words, but their words did not reflect what was in their hearts.

We need to be very careful when we speak. God knows exactly what is in our heart, how we really feel, and what we truly believe. It is not good for us to say one thing when we believe and act differently. Maybe we should just say "yes" when we mean yes and say "no" when we mean no, and not say very much else. (Matthew 5:37 & James 5:12) We talk a lot to impress people. The more we talk, the more likely we are to say something that is offensive to God. If we believe, then our thoughts, words, and actions should reflect our beliefs. It is truly sinful when we say something, knowing that we really believe something totally different. Let's be true to our belief in God, let's make sure that our words match our hearts.