Got your fill and then what ...

Do you remember that first commandment in Exodus 20:

Exodus 20 (New Living Translation)

Ten Commandments for the Covenant Community

1 Then God gave the people all these instructions:

2 “I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from

the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery.

3 “You must not have any other god but me.

No other god. It might be interpreted, no other thing, whether possession, desire, form of worship. Anything that is placed in preference or prominence over God. You probably know the drill – commonly we might immediately think of money (you cannot serve both God and money, the root of all evil is the love of money, etc.). But we might also be reminded of the preference that we give to possessions in our lives (cars, a house, a boat, etc.). Or what about the striving for a position (leader, CEO, president, etc.). Then it might be an achievement (sports star, personality, one striving for acknowledgement in your field, etc.). That which you are drawn to worship, exalt, give prominence to in your life – over God, before God.

In Hosea God echoes the reminder to His people:

Hosea 13:4-5 (New Living Translation)

4 “I have been the Lord your God

ever since I brought you out of Egypt.

You must acknowledge no God but me,

for there is no other savior.

5 I took care of you in the wilderness,

in that dry and thirsty land.

However that is not all God had to say on this. For we discover that at some point the people had obviously acknowledged Him as Lord, God, the One before all others. How do we know this, for in their satisfaction of knowing this to be true, where God has met them at their point of need, and having been satisfied they now have forgotten, turned their backs on Him.

Hosea 13:6 (New Living Translation)

6 But when you had eaten and were satisfied,

you became proud and forgot me.

It is easy to remember God in the difficult times. When things are on top of us, when we are overawed by the circumstances, when we feel trapped and there seems nowhere else to turn – "O God help me!" And often the testimony we have is – He does - He helps, He provides, He shelters, He comforts, He shields, He loves me.

Yet how soon we can forget. How soon we become complacent to the promise to honour Him for the rest of our lives. How soon we find pleasure in the company of another or something else, over God. How soon we begin to operate on our own, in our own strength and wisdom and limited and deficient knowledge again. Just like the people of Israel – satisfied and moved into being proud and forgetting God.

“Lord, I take the warning given to me today and first I ask that You forgive me for the times I have mirrored the actions of these people of Israel, forgive me for having been proud and having forgotten You. Lord, thank You for ALL You do in and through my life, for every provision You gift to me. I honour You and desire to bring glory to Your name!”