And God spoke all these words:
“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
“You shall have no other gods before me.
“You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments..
Exodus 20:1-6
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It seems to me every command in Scripture can equally be read as an invitation.
*Don’t store up treasures here on earth… is an invitation to store up treasures in heaven.
*Rest one day each week… is an invitation to balance and better work.
*Don’t commit sexual immortality… is an invitation to a purer heart and better sex life in marriage.
*Don’t gossip… is an invitation to stronger and healthier relationships.
*Do not neglect meeting together… is an invitation to community within the body of Christ.
There is not a single command or instruction from God that needs to be read as a burden. Instead, it is always an invitation to something better, something bigger, something longer lasting than sin and this world.
God probably summed it up best in the very first commandment:
“You shall have no other gods before me.” —Exodus 20:3
The benefit for our souls contained in this command is impossible to describe with human words or even for our minds to fully comprehend.
In this very first commandment, we are instructed to worship God alone—to remove all other affections from His rightful place as first in our desires and actions.
How we spend our time… how we spend our money… where we focus our energy… where we find our morality… who makes our decisions… and what motivates us each day all flow from who (or what) we choose to worship.
But this is more than a command to worship Him first. This is an invitation to a life of infinite worth.
Because our lives will never become greater than that which we choose to worship.
We are invited here, in the first commandment, to desire a holy, eternal God and invest our lives into pursuits of infinite value. In the keeping of God’s command to worship Him alone, we live lives that far outweigh ourselves (or anything else this world could offer).
Throw off all hindrances—sin or distraction—to run the race to the best of your ability as empowered by the Holy Spirit. Throw off all hindrances today—right now. And throw them off again tomorrow when they inevitably emerge again.
The trade-off isn’t worth it. The invitation to worship God alone is simply too valuable.
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Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank you for your instruction in life. Thank you that you did not leave us alone to discover the temporal nature of this world, but guided us and invited us at every turn to live life focused on you and in worship to you. Help me to live up to that calling and invitation. Amen.