Mid-Week Message - No Other Gods

When I was a little girl and had a problem, all I had to do was go to my Daddy and he would either fix what was broken or have the solution for my predicament.  I thought my father could do anything. He could make anything better.  Once when I was about five or six years old, I got in a fight with the little girl across the street because she said the appendages on my hands were "fingers" but my father said they were "fangers."  He told me later that he had been playing by calling them that, but I was willing to do anything to defend him because I believed he could never be wrong. Oh, what a Daddy's girl I was!  And even though he has been in Heaven almost 10 years now, I am still a Daddy's girl.  

After his death in 2007, prayer was difficult for me for awhile.  When I would say the Lord's Prayer , "Our Father who art in Heaven", I would see my Daddy's face rather than concentrating on my Creator.  It was something that I had to work on and ask the Lord to help me with.  As much as I loved my Daddy, he was definitely human and did not deserve to be equated with God.  

Exodus 20:3 says quite clearly, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me."  No other gods. Nothing and no one is to be bowed down to in worship other than Jehovah.  I wasn't bowing to my father but I had elevated him in my mind and heart.  I don't believe it was intentional.  I loved him so much and in my grief I was attempting to hold on to him any way I could.  However, once I realized what I was doing I knew I had to take steps to correct it.  

It is incredibly easy to take God off the throne of our hearts and replace Him with something or someone else.  We have to be diligent to keep track of what is influencing our lives.  Money, food, drugs, spouses, parents, children, friends, alcohol, gaming, cars, gambling, beauty, clothing, jewelry, lifestyles, etc., can all take up that space that should be reserved for our heavenly Father.  And the sad thing is that it happens almost without us knowing it.  The only way to keep that from happening is stay vigilant, to be actively in prayer and spending time in scripture.  What we spend the most time on is what will generally try to take the throne.  God alone is to be worshiped.  He is the One that deserves our adoration.  

I will always love my Daddy.  And one day in Heaven, when my time comes, I will see him again.  And then together we will bow before the Most High, sing praises to Him and adore Him as He deserves to be adored.