Putting God First: The Greatest Commandment

Exodus 20 starts with grace, not with people trying to earn their way to God. God brought Israel out of slavery before He gave them a commandment, and that rescue shows a holy God who still comes near. The first commandment puts the real issue right out in the open: “You shall have no other gods before me.” God alone deserves first place.

The competition for first place shows up everywhere. A calendar, spending, health, relationships, career, children, a roof problem, anxiety, and even personal desires can quietly take the driver’s seat. Idols do not have to look like statues; golf clubs, money, success, or the need to control things can become images when they receive the attention and trust that belong to God.

God’s name, El Kanah, shows that His jealousy is not sinful envy. God is protective because He knows that anything placed above Him will eventually tear people down. God is not jealous because He needs something from people; He is jealous because He wants something better for people. God loves people too much to let them settle for less than what He created them for.

Exodus 20 also warns against misusing God’s name. God’s name is misused not only through careless words, but whenever people put His authority on something He never said. Scripture gives the steady word for knowing God’s will, while human wants can easily sound spiritual when they are left unchecked. Sin grieves God because sin puts something else in the place reserved for Him.

Jesus brings the Ten Commandments down to the greatest commandment: loving the Lord with all the heart, soul, and mind. Jesus calls for more than religious language or a few good intentions. God owns every part of life, and people are stewards of what He has placed in their hands.

The response comes down to three plain words: identify, surrender, and reorder. The heart must honestly identify what is first, surrender it completely to God, and reorder life with God back on the throne. Anxiety may still come, but surrender gives it somewhere to go. God is worthy, and when He is first, everything else finally finds its proper place.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. God deserves first place God’s holiness does not make Him distant from His people, because His grace moved toward them first. His command to have no other gods is not a demand for empty religious effort; it is a call to put the only worthy God where He belongs. Every competing priority eventually exposes what the heart trusts most. [58:41]
• 2. God’s jealousy is protective love El Kanah does not describe God as insecure or needy. God is jealous for human attention because false gods cannot love, save, or sustain the people who serve them. His jealousy guards people from wasting life on things that cannot bear the weight of first place. [66:58]
• 3. God’s name carries His authority God’s name should never be attached to personal plans, desires, or opinions that He has not spoken. Scripture keeps people from turning their own wants into God’s will. Misrepresenting God may feel spiritual, but it actually manipulates His authority for personal gain. [72:31]
• 4. Surrender reveals what comes first The heart reveals its true worship through what it cannot release. Calendars, spending, worry, and ambition can uncover the places where something else has taken the throne. Surrender places family, money, health, future, and fear back into God’s hands.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [49:04] - The Ten Commandments and Grace
• [51:35] - The Fight for First Place
• [54:45] - God Comes Near to His People
• [56:32] - What Is First in Life?
• [58:17] - No Other Gods Before Him
• [59:54] - Modern Idols and Graven Images
• [63:34] - El Kanah: A Jealous God
• [69:50] - Misusing God’s Name
• [76:25] - Jesus and the Greatest Commandment
• [80:54] - Identify, Surrender, Reorder
• [84:06] - Accountability and Keeping God on the Throne

Bible Reading

Exodus 20:1-7
“And God spoke all these words, saying, "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. 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. 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, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. 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.” [57:30]

Matthew 22:37-38
“And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.” [01:17:21]

Deuteronomy 6:5
“You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” [01:18:03]

Observation questions

1. In Exodus 20:1-2, what does God remind Israel that He has already done for them before giving the commandments? [57:30]
2. What commands in Exodus 20:3-6 show that God alone is to receive Israel’s worship and loyalty?
3. What examples of modern “images” or competing first places were identified, beyond physical idols? [01:10:18]
4. According to Exodus 20:7, what does it mean to misuse God’s name beyond simply using it carelessly? [01:12:31]

Interpretation questions

1. Why does it matter that God rescued Israel from slavery before commanding them to have no other gods? How does that change the way believers should view obedience to God? [55:19]
2. God describes Himself as jealous in Exodus 20. How is God’s jealousy different from sinful human envy, and why is it good news for people who are tempted to give first place to lesser things? [01:05:08]
3. Jesus calls loving God with all the heart, soul, and mind the first and greatest commandment. What does this reveal about the relationship between the Ten Commandments and loving God? [01:17:21]
4. Why can saying “God told me” or attaching God’s name to a personal desire be a serious misuse of His name? What role does Scripture play in testing such claims? [01:12:55]

Application questions

1. If someone looked at this past week’s calendar, spending, conversations, and worries, what might they conclude has been competing for first place in life? [01:23:18]
2. Is there something good—family, health, work, financial security, a relationship, or a personal goal—that has begun to carry a weight only God can bear? What would it look like to put it back in its proper place?
3. What is one specific concern or anxiety that needs to be surrendered to God this week? What could it look like to bring that concern to Him each morning rather than letting it direct the day? [01:22:51]
4. Where is there a temptation to make a personal preference, plan, or desire sound like God’s will? What Scripture could help bring clarity and humility in that situation? [01:13:28]
5. What is one practical way to reorder life this week so that love for God is not merely spoken but visible—in time, choices, generosity, prayer, or obedience? [01:22:23]
6. Who is a trusted believer who could help provide honest accountability when something else begins to take God’s place? What kind of question would be helpful to invite from that person? [01:24:06]