Shining Armour

Ex.20:³ “You must not have any other god but me.”

Isa.40:²⁵ “To whom will you compare me? Who is my equal?” asks the Holy One. ²⁶ Look up into the heavens. Who created all the stars? He brings them out like an army, one after another, calling each by its name. Because of his great power and incomparable strength, not a single one is missing.” Fire needs fuel to keep it alive. But God appeared to Moses in a burning bush and the bush was not consumed. If God had said, “You must not have any other god but me” on the backdrop of how awesome and how mighty He is, it would be credible. Interestingly though, God did not hinge the first commandment on the backdrop of his power.

Ex.20:² “I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery.” When we had no hope and no future, Jesus died for us. God came to our rescue and for this reason He says, You must not have any other god but me. In other words, God is saying, “You are mine!” Imagine this is a cartoon, you are the princess that was captured by some evil genius and locked up at the top of a tower. A dragon is let loose in the castle as a double assurance that you are not going anywhere. Then a prince [a knight] shows up, fights and kills the dragon and with a kiss of life, awakens the lifeless princess. Then the prince goes on his knees and says, ‘I want you to be mine’. The princess’ only response would be, ‘I am yours’. What is unfolding here is a love story.

You are that princess and Jesus is the knight. God says, “I AM The One that rescued you from the land of Egypt and from slavery; nobody else gave you a chance. You are mine! So, you will have no other God but Me!” When a Jew reads this commandment, it is a love poem to him, but for the rest of us our challenge is our colonial mentality and so we struggle with a ‘slave’ mind-set. When a kidnapper says, “You are mine” the emotion that flows through you is different from when your lover says, “You are mine!” God has rescued you as His lover!

Prayer [song]: I have no other God but You (2x). You have done what no man has done. You will do what no man can do!  Amen!