"Thou shalt have no other gods before me" (Exodus 20:3) This first commandment was to help us prioritize our life. There is nothing else more important than God, not even our own life if it comes in the way of him.
One Bible scholar put it this way: “This commandment prohibits every species of mental idolatry, and all inordinate attachment to earthly and sensible things [things which appeal to the senses]. . . God is the fountain of happiness, and no intelligent creature can be happy but through him. . . . The very first commandment of the whole series is divinely calculated to prevent man’s misery and promote his happiness, by taking him off from all false dependence, and leading him to God himself, the fountain of all good. ” (Clarke, Bible Commentary, 1:402–3.)
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I liken this to Stephen Covey's "Christ-Centered" living. Anything that we put at the center of our lives, other than Christ, is disobeying this commandment. That includes family, church, career, and so much more. If we put Christ at the center of our lives, he helps us balance everything else.
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