In this series, I take our law homily from our church gathering each week (The law homily is where we read from the law of God and let His law examine our hearts so that we can be a tender-hearted and repenting people), and I post them here for your edification. Here is this week’s law homily on the prohibition against mental idolatry. 

You shall have no other gods before Me. - Exodus 20:3

The First Commandment: Have No Other Gods

3500 years ago, the men and women of Judah gathered at the foot of Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments God gave to Moses - which begin with the first and most central command: "You shall have no other gods before me."

This commandment strikes at the very heart of what it means to worship and adore the one true God. The Hebrew word used here for worship is "ahav," which means to love fervently and to cherish with passionate devotion. It is the kind of word Solomon uses in the songs of Solomon, describing passionate intimate love between a husband and his wife. It is borderless intimacy, simple affection, a heart consumed with its beloved, and, in this case, love is aimed toward God. 

God established His covenant with the Israelites at Mount Sinai as their sovereign Lord and ruler. He had delivered them mightily from slavery in Egypt. And by doing that, God was not only after the fear and gratitude. He certainly was not interested in begrudging obedience. At the heart of God's actions towards His people was a reciprocity of love. In giving the Ten Commandments, He was making clear that He alone is to be adored and worshiped by them as the one true God. No other gods were, and no other wayward loves were to come into His presence.

The Essence of Idolatry: Misplaced Love and Devotion

And it is here that we learn an astounding truth. To not adore and love God with this vibrant "ahav" kind of devotion is itself an act of idolatry. If we do not give our highest love and adoration to God, we inevitably place something else on the throne of our hearts. There is no neutrality. You will either love God above all, or you will love everything else above Him. Whether it be wealth, power, success, relationships, or fleeting pleasures - whatever supplants God as the object of our most passionate devotion becomes an idol.

The Exclusivity of True Worship

The opposite of adoring God is not neutral indifference but active hatred and rejection of Him as the rightful Lord. As Scripture says, if you are not willing to hate your own father and mother, then you are not worthy of me. Jesus is not telling you to despise the parents who raised you. He is saying in comparison to the way you love Him, every other love ought to look like hate. In contrast to your white-hot affections for Him, everything else pales in comparison! 

This is, of course, why Jesus said: "No one can serve two masters… You will love the one while hating the other…" (Matthew 6:24) 

This teaches us that wherever our highest love and devotion lies, there lies our true worship. To say that differently, you will always worship what you love most, and what your heart loves most is an excellent litmus test for what you are actually worshiping. 

Examining Our Hearts

So, let us examine ourselves this day. Where do the most fervent adorations your heart has to give land? With all sincerity and confidence, can you say to the almighty that I have no other love that has risen up and over the love I have for you? Do your affections for God trump every other love? Is He the chief object of your affections, your all-consuming passion, or the afterthought in a crowded schedule and life? 

Is Your heart entirely given over to God alone as your greatest treasure? Or are you like the Laodiceans, neither hot nor cold, so that Jesus will spew you out of His mouth? 

The Remedy: Christ and the Spirit's Work

There are two dangers we face as we consider these things. If we say, "This does not apply to me because I am saved," and we go on in flippant, half-hearted affections, then we provoke the God who gave us everything to jealous wrath. He does not want some of your heart; He wants all of it. The second error we could fall into is despair, knowing we will never - at least not on this side of heaven - love our God as He is owed. We must not fall into either error. While we have every reason to despair at our lackluster performance, God has provided a substitute! And while it would be easy to slack off and get lazy on God's grace, that substitute, Jesus Christ, has sent His Spirit into you to conform you to His image! 

He did not die for you to go on in despair. And He did not die for you to maintain a muffin top flabby faith. So today, if despair is muting your affections and causing you to be captivated by fear, lay those things down so that the love of God and your love for Him may flood in! Suppose laziness, slothfulness, ignorance, apathy, depression, or a lack of motivation have turned you into a spiritual three-toed sloth, expecting grace without sanctification. In that case, I pray you will repent. 

Jesus died so that your heart would sing the adorations of Yahweh. Jesus died so your chief and supreme love would be Him and not anything else. Let us repent where we have fallen short and plead with God to give us more love and more affection for Him!