Ten Commandments
1. One God

You shall have no other gods before me. _{(Exodus 20:3)}

Today we are preoccupied with ourselves, and this is clearly demonstrated in a few phrases that we hear today: "self-fulfilment"; "doing our own thing" and "I can do what I want - it's my right".

People generally want to commit to something - but they want to pick and choose based on what feels good.

God created us in His image so that we might have a special relationship with him. Throughout the Old Testament God shows His love for the Israelites and entered into special relationships with them through covenants. Each time the Israelites turned away from God to other gods, things looked better elsewhere, but each time they ended up in a worse mess. Every time they had turned away God revealed Himself some more and showed His love and supremacy offering them a new start.

God revealed His ultimate act of love when he sent His Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross. The gospels clearly show us the importance of the commandments in the new covenant.

To live according to God's plan requires that we listen to God's messages and have a personal relationship through our saviour Jesus Christ. Ultimately we can only focus on God, paying attention to any other gods just shows disrespect for our creator and leads us away from God's plan.

God created us as spiritual beings; it is no wonder that people are searching to fulfil that spirituality. By turning to God we find fulfilment and hope for our lives. We are sinful in nature, but through faith in Jesus Christ we are forgiven and given a new start.

All too often people put their faith into other things, but can't find fulfilment. The search goes on as people move from one thing to another, in search of peace and fulfilment.

If we turn from God and listen to other voices then we will soon be misled into ways that are not in God's plan for us.

By committing to a God centred life means that we will want to avoid the temptations of other gods and remove the barriers that get in the way of our relationship with God. The Ten Commandments are a framework that helps us to live such a life. Whilst the temptations do not go away, He gives us strength to resist and the knowledge that should we fall short we still have a way back.