#171 Insanity

And God spoke all these words:

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

3 “You shall have no other gods before me. 

4 “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. 5 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, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

Exodus 20: 1-6 NIV

This the beginning of the ten commandments; it is no new law, but the law that was written in the hearts of men from the beginning. It has not changed with sin, but must be restated because of sin's skew upon the mind and the conscience. "You shall have no other gods before me": this would seem a simple matter, since all other gods are of our own invention. The Creator has revealed Himself to this people, and demonstrated His sovereignty in nature, so that there is no natural thing, outside of superstition, that a man can worship. There has never been a time in my life where I have not worshiped at the altar of some god. As soon as I denied God, it was in that denial that I crafted my own god, whether money, the intellect of others whose minds I esteemed above His, or the altar of sinful preference. Yes, even those who would claim there is no God, worship many gods. Figurines adorn nooks, but in the heart of every man rest an idol; it is often cast in the image of himself, and borrowing from those attributes he esteems most. He will kiss up to approach the god of success. He will lie and cheat others for the god of money. His identity is attached to the god of conquest, and he must sacrifice often at the altar of his lust. In order to be this god he must reduce others, and we must all stand convinced that our identities lie herein, talent, sexual preference or prowess, monetary gain,  popularity, youth, vanity. It is all in vane.

20 But I [say], that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils.

21 Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils.

22 Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than he? 1 Corinthians 10:20 - 22