Our First Priority What’s the first priority in our lives? For some it’s family–being a good husband or wife, father or mother. For others it’s advancing at work–doing a good job, representing Jesus to our co-workers. For others still it might be doing well in school, or caring about creation, or fixing the political problems in our nation. While all these might be worthy and important, there is an overarching priority we’re to have. We are taking a look at the Ten Commandments for a few weeks, what the Hebrew Bible calls the Ten Words. I like to think of them as Ten Words that will change our lives. And the first word from God is “Acknowledge.” It’s found in Exodus 20:2, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery.” There is no explicit commandment in this verse–it’s implied. Our very first priority is to believe in God and acknowledge who He is. In fact, this verse identifies seven areas of His character that we are to acknowledge. 1. We must acknowledge the person of God. The verse begins with “I.” God is not an “it” but a person with being and mind and heart and will. 2. We must acknowledge the eternal God. He say “I am the LORD,” using His name Yahweh, indicating His eternal nature (“I am who I am” Ex 3:14). He has no beginning or end; He was never weak or dependent; He did not grow in His ability nor will He ever decline in strength. He does not have good days or bad days. The Lord is as He always was and always will be. 3. We must acknowledge the all powerful God. He is the Lord our “God.” The Hebrew name Elohim was used in Gen 1:1 (In the beginning God created) showing His strength and power. 4. We must acknowledge the relational God. It says I am the Lord “your” God. The word “your” is singular showing that God relates to us as individuals. 5. We must acknowledge the redemptive God. The text says He redeemed Israel from Egypt and from slavery. We are all enslaved even now, we’re slaves to sin. And through the death and resurrection of our Passover lamb Jesus, He has redeemed us from slavery to sin. 6. We must acknowledge the compassionate God. Why did He redeem Israel? Because He observed their misery and heard their cries (Ex 3:7-8). God has the same compassion on us so He redeemed us as well. 7. We must acknowledge the sovereign God. He has the authority to issue a proclamation such as the Ten Words, including this opening word about who He is. Acknowledge. That’s the first word and it teaches us our first priority in life–to acknowledge and trust in the God who loved and redeemed us.
Posted on: Sat, 13 Sep 2014 20:21:42 +0000
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