God's Decrees

You shall have 

no other gods 

before me.

As I read in 1 Kings chpt 9 I am amazed.  He is ever so stern!  I can see how, if you don't look at the big picture of who God is and why and when he does certain things throughout the Bible, someone might read this and think He is not a God of grace.  (vs. 6-9) "But if you or your sons turn away from me and do not observe the commands and decrees I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them, then I will cut off Israel from the land I have given them and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name.  Israel will then become a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples... because they have forsaken the Lord their God, who brought their fathers out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them - that is why the Lord brought all this disaster on them."  God's commandment of "you shall have no other gods before me" (Exodus 20:3) is serious.  He meant business when he wrote that on the stone tablets for Moses to bring down to his people!  There's no messing around with that - and for good reason!

If you look at Sodom and Gomorrah and the terrible, godless people they had become, there's no doubt why God has rules for us.  He isn't just wanting us to obey him and bow down like cowards because he's a control freak.  God KNOWS what happens when people walk away from him and his decrees.  Sorrow and despair, anger, corruption, jealousy etc.... take over the hearts of his people - which is exactly what Satan delights in - and destroys them.  Hope is nowhere to be found.... except through HIM!  Our good is His intention.

Over and over again throughout the Bible, God gave 2nd and 3rd chances to people.  I am grateful for the grace that God gives.  His patience is amazing and his love is unwavering.  God is "...not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9)  I want to be humble before my King.  I never want to forget that what I have and who I am is nothing without Him.