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God spoke all these words, saying, "I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourselves an idol, nor any image of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: you shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them, for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God" Exodus 20:1–5 WEB.

The first of the ten commandments is that you shall have no other gods before Me. The ten plagues in Egypt were directed against the pagan gods they worshiped. The Egyptians worshiped the guardian god of the Nile River, but it turned to blood. They worshiped the sun god, but the Lord turned to darkness (Exodus 7-12).

While the Philistines had a great sacrifice for their god dagon, the Lord used Samson to bring the entire building down on them (Judges 16:23). Later, when backslidden Israel tried to use the Ark of God as a tool, the Lord allowed His Ark to be captured by the Philistine army.

The Philistines happily put the Ark of God in their temple as a trophy, and they placed it right in front of the statue of their god, dagon. The next morning, they found their god dagon lying on his face in front of the Ark (1 Samuel 5:2). So they stood him back up, but the following morning, dagon was again lying before the Ark, but this time, broken in pieces.

This may sound foreign to us, but it's so relevant today, for we are allowed to choose which god we will serve. Often we choose to be our own god and live just like we want. Sometimes, we chase after asheroth, a god of sex and fertility. At other times, we pursue baal, a god of money, the economy, and materialism.

The choice you make will be tested just as sure as Shadrach's and the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar set up (Daniel 3:7). So choose today whom you will serve, for God Almighty will not share His place in your life with other "gods."

If you want to chase other gods, you can have them, but you won't have Him along with it. As Jesus Christ said, no one can serve two masters. It's a divine election, and only one god wins the top spot in your life. Who will be the god of your life?

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I choose You today! Thank You! I pray that You clearly reveal to me anything that I put before You in my life. Please help me root the idols out of my life, for I want to serve You with all my heart, Lord. Teach me, guide me, and walk with me today. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen!

Note: Today is Thankful Thursday at the Ministry Events group! This event gives us an opportunity encourage each other by posting thoughts, moments, and prayers of gratitude for Him, His creation and all that He does in our lives. All our welcome! To join, just click on the group name and then the join link on the page that will follow. As always, if you have a prayer need, we are here for you! We and the prayer team are ready to lift you up at our private prayer page: RHM Prayer Network.