What Am I Holding On To?

In thinking about the ten commandments, you have probably thought about if you have broken any of them. Most of us are guilty of breaking at least one, and most likely more. But have you ever thought about what order YOU would put the commandments in? What commandment would you put first?

Society would most likely dictate that "thou shall not murder" would be first. After all, it has one of the most severe consequences - even the loss of life, if found guilty. Yet God listed that as the 6th commandment (even below honoring your mother and your father!).

I find it interesting when you think about the order in which God put the commandments.

Most people would say that even though they have broken a few of the commandments, that the first one is one that they have never broken.

Thou shall have no other gods before me.

It is only recently that I am learning that this commandment is one of the hardest to keep.

I think it is because society tends to shape or definitions. Even other well meaning members in the church. Again, this is what I love about the 1828 Webster's Dictionary, where he uses Scripture to define words.

The last definition of god is:

4. Any person or thing exalted too much in estimation, or deified and honored as the chief good.

Whose god is their belly. Phil.3.

Remember where the Bible talks about the rich man and his question about what he must do to enter heaven?

Jesus replied to keep the commandments. The rich man did not respond that he had kept them all. He replied "which ones?".

Jesus then listed the last six commandments - the 6 that deal with our relationship with others. He did not list any of the first four - all of which deal with our relationship with God.

Of course the rich man had done all of the ones in relationship to others. But when Jesus, who was able to see into the rich man's heart, said that he must give up all his possessions and follow Him, the rich man left sad. I personally believe this was because the rich man knew that he had made his possessions into a god. He knew he

To me, I am learning that anything I am holding onto that I fear God might ask me to give up, is a god I am putting in place of Him. The digital scrapbooking I dearly enjoy and value. If God asked me to give that up, would I? What about crochet? Or watching movies? Or reading/collecting books?

I have so much to learn and so far to go. I am so thankful though that I am on this journey now. And my children are so much further along on their journey now than probably my husband (who was raised in a Christian home) was at the same age. I know that they are already MUCH further along than I ever was at that age. I did not become a Christian until after I was in college.