Devotional: Idolatry in America Exodus 20:1-11

“You shall have no other gods before me” (Ex. 20:3, NASB).

When God calls Moses to come upon Mt. Sinai, He gives Moses Ten Commandments that the people that Moses is leading are to obey from this day forward. The people that Moses is leading have been in bondage in Egypt for over four hundred years. In Egypt the people worship many gods. The Hebrew people living in bondage come into contact with the Egyptian gods on a daily basis. Although they have heard stories about their ancestor Abraham and his god, they have never seen Abraham’s god. Unlike the Egyptian gods the god of Abraham has no physical representation of himself for the people to see and form a relationship with. God performs mighty acts, but God is not seen.

The Hebrew people are called to a life of faith. Abraham was a man of faith, and the only reason that God accepts Abraham is Abraham’s faith. “Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness” (Gen. 15:6, NASB). “For what does the Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness’” (Rom. 4:3, NASB; see also Gal. 3:6; Jas. 2:23). The Ten Commandments are a covenant that God makes with His own peculiar people. They are being called to be holy, that is, to be separate and distinguished from all other people. Although the people that live in the land of Canaan worship many gods, the Hebrew people are to worship Jehovah alone. If they worship any other god(s) they will be guilty of idolatry. This brings us to this notion of idolatry in America.

Americans worship many gods. There are two gods in particular that America worships today. They are money and education. Now, I believe in education, and we all need money. Money and education have their place in our lives, but we should not use them to replace God. God is to be first in the Christian’s life. There are times when we have to choose which comes first in our lives. Will God be first, or will the material things that we possess be first? Do we think that money and education are the answers to our problems? Do we depend on money and education instead of depending on the Lord? Yes, America is a very wealthy nation, and we are an educated people, but we do not have the wisdom to use our money and education wisely. God has made America the greatest nation in the entirety of all human civilization, but instead of worshiping God alone, we are worshiping the things that God gives to us. There is idolatry in America.

Prayer: Lord God we thank You for allowing us to know You; and we thank You for all that You do for us. We pray that we will always give You first place in our lives. Amen.