How To Love God

INTRODUCTION:

Greatest command is our command.

So how do we do that?

Put Him First

Exodus 20:1 ESV

1 And God spoke all these words, saying,

God spoke - This is his words.

Exodus 20:2 ESV

2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

I am - the Lord - I am who I am ???

who brought you out. - Therefore he owns them now.

Exodus 20:3 ESV

3 “You shall have no other gods before me.

1st commandment.

before or beside me.

This is the whole thing.

We live in a pluralistic culture that says there are many ways to heaven.

God wants all of you, not part.

Get Rid of Idols

Exodus 20:4 ESV

4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

This seems redundant at first. Didn’t God just say not to have other Gods?

He was also saying don’t make any images of me. But why?

I am personally hesitant to display pictures of Jesus or others. They aren’t matter of worship, so that’s good but I would prefer to not get close to breaking them.

The catholic church gets extraordinarily close to breaking this and in my opinion does break it.

heaven above earth or water - literally anything.

But most of our idols are not carved. But anything that holds more value than God.

Politics.

Money

Family.

Exodus 20:5 ESV

5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me,

Jealous God - We usually see jealously in a bad way, but it can be a healthy thing.

We can see that is true - if you decide to worship a false god. Your kids will not likely grow up as Christians either.

If you are drunk, you will hurt your kids and grand kids.

Exodus 20:6 ESV

6 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

We worship God the way He wants.

Honor His Name

Exodus 20:7 ESV

7 “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

vain - vainity, make it worthless.

This would have been swearing on God’s name falsely.

More than that - we sometime simplify it to GD.

Lord, Lordy, God. - this is al elementary stuff.

Anytime we say God in an irrelevant way. “God told me to”…leave my wife.

How we speak about God, shows our attitude towards Him.

Rest in Him

Exodus 20:8 ESV

8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

Exodus 20:9–10 ESV

9 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates.

Exodus 20:11 ESV

11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

Resting in God, shows we trust Him.