SOAP: Not serving other gods is a challenge for me

Scripture: Deuteronomy 6:13-14

¹³Fear the Lord your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name. ¹⁴Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you; ¹⁵for the Lord your God, who is among you, is a jealous God and his anger will burn against you, and he will destroy you from the face of the land.

Observation: Serve only the one true God and don’t be swayed to serve other ‘gods.’ God is jealous and will punish you for serving others gods before him. He really wants you to put Him first.

Application: This sounds easy: serve God alone. I am a believer and follower of Christ. I participate in Bible studies and go to church. I don’t attend any worship services for any other gods and I don’t deny my belief in Jesus. So I’m not serving any other gods, right?

Wrong.

It’s more than just what religious service I attend or to whom I pray but also where my priorities stand.

If I say I follow Jesus, yet he is not my top priority and I allow other things to seep in and push my time with Jesus away, then I am putting another god first.

Prayer: Lord, please forgive me when I serve other god’s before you.

I am so thankful that you are a loving and forgiving and true God. Thank you for sending your son to die for my sins, one of which is allowing you to slip out of first place on my priority list.

When I am allowing that to happen, please remind me of my error and guide me back to you. Don’t let me let ANYTHING else come first: especially not housework, volunteer work, blogging or any other hobby. If I don’t have time and a commitment to you, I should not have time for anything else at all. YOU ALONE need to be at the top, please guide me putting you there and keeping you there when I slip.