Unlocked Devotional: The Ten CommandmentsSample

The First Commandment: Depending on God

“You must not have any other god but me” (Exodus 20:3; Deuteronomy 5:7).

To the Israelites, this command was actually kind of crazy. In that time and place in history, it was common and even expected to worship more than one god. Do you want your crops to grow? Go sacrifice to the rain god. Want your animals to have more babies? Head on over to the fertility god’s temple. There was a god for every aspect of life, and if you wanted something from these gods, you had to do something for them.

God’s rule was radically different. God called His people to be completely and utterly dependent on Him and Him alone. And He had already demonstrated He was trustworthy: through the ten plagues, He had shown He was stronger than the Egyptian gods of the Nile, livestock, and others. The message was loud and clear: “These gods are weak and worthless. I alone am worthy of praise and trust. I will take care of you. Depend on Me.”

This points us to Jesus. He shows He is more powerful than sin and death, defeating them through His death and resurrection. And we, as God’s people, can depend on the sure hope that He will someday return to get rid of sin and death completely. We can depend on no one and nothing else. Jesus—who is fully God and fully human and who died and rose again—is the only way. We see that in John chapter 14.

Depending fully on Jesus sounds like it should be simple, but we all struggle with it at times. When something bad happens, we are often tempted to depend on ourselves by reaching for control or bitterness or isolation, shutting God out. Instead, in times of trouble, God invites us to bring our hearts and laments to Him, trusting Him to take care of us. And, in good times, instead of falling into false pride, we are invited to praise Jesus for His good gifts.

God calls us to depend on Him alone because He knows He is the only One who has the power to take care of us. Lifeless idols—like pride, self-sufficiency, and fear—will fail, but the living God will never fail.

–Taylor Eising

THINK ABOUT IT

What are some ways God has shown you can depend on Him? These could be examples from the Bible, your own life, or the lives of people you know.

How does depending on Jesus make us free?

KEY VERSE

Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” John 14:6 (NLT)