While these words in Exodus 20 aren’t labeled as the Ten Commandments, that’s what we’ve come to know them as. They are what will soon be inscribed in stone (Exodus 34:28). The phrase “written in stone” will come to mean unchangeable. These are God’s unchanging laws; as He is unchanging as well, we should pay special attention to these.

The first commandment: You shall have no other gods. These are what we refer to as idols, things that we make god-like in our lives. These can be things that we rely on to save us, instead of turning to God. It can be money that we’re counting on for security. It can be a person that we turn to when we’re stressed, when there’s a problem, instead of turning to God. Or maybe you turn to food in those times?

It’s God that we’re supposed to love with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. If we’re loving anything that’s not an extension of God’s love working in and through us, then we need to cut ties and dial it back and refocus on the Lord.

Our society calls many such things addictions and acts like we can’t help them. But addictions can be broken. They started in the mind. They started with a choice. They started by us letting something become too important to us. They started because we were seeking something we thought we needed, but we didn’t seek it from God.

We can even let Bible knowledge become an idol, seeking after knowledge and relying on human understanding, instead of relying on the Holy Spirit to illumine the Scriptures and teach us His truth.

God is our all in all. He’s our provider of all that we need. If we’re seeking anything apart from Him, we’re in trouble and need to repent and turn around and get back to the source of our life.

I know it’s all too easy to not rely on God, to believe your prayers aren’t changing anything. To try to take matters into your own hands because it seems the only way to get what you want.

How can we avoid it? Know your good Father. Knowing Him will allow you to trust His goodness at work in your life. We have to believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him.

What is the reward? Himself! If He’s all that we need, He’s more than enough.