NO OTHER (PART 1)

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“This is what the Lord says—Israel’s King and Redeemer, the Lord Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God.”

Isaiah 44:6

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Yesterday, we saw how God’s word reminded us that in life, we have no identity crisis for from the moment we are conceived until we emerge from the womb and throughout our lives from that juncture on, we are the Lord’s. We do not belong to anyone or anything else.

Today, we are reminded of one other important point.

The Lord who we belong to is without equal or rival. He is the only God and there is no other.

Look at the scripture verse for today:

“This is what the Lord says—Israel’s King and Redeemer, the Lord Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God.” Isaiah 44:6

This isn’t the first time that God proclaimed His unique nature. You’ll recall that during the exodus across the wilderness to the Promised Land, the forty day period right after God had delivered His people from the oppression of the Egyptians, He spoke to them through His chosen leader Moses at Mount Sinai saying:

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

“You shall have no other gods before Me. 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. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God.”  Exodus 20:2-5a

There were plenty of other gods being worshipped by people during this time, many of whom the Israelites would encounter once they crossed the Jordan River into Canaan. But those gods were no gods at all. There was only one true God and that was the God who delivered the Israelites from the bondage of slavery in Egypt, the God who now demanded the fullest measure of their worship and reverence. Giving attention to anything else was not only a fruitless endeavor but foolish and dangerous as well because it opened the gates for the Lord’s wrath to be imposed on anyone who willingly sinned and disobeyed His commands.

Fast forward to Isaiah and ask yourself, “How well did the Israelites listen to what God said to them at Mount Sinai?”

I think the answer is pretty obvious since the words in our scripture today comes from the book of one of the Bible’s major prophets as the Israelite people are on the verge being overrun by the Babylonians and once again taken away into captivity. God had delivered them from bondage in Egypt and gave them a chance to worship Him and Him alone in obedience since there was no other god but Him. Instead, they chose to build a long track record of worshipping idols and false gods like the peoples who lived around them, the very people that God had commanded them to eradicate as they entered the land that He provided them, a command that they defied and would face judgment for.

If only they had listened.

Question: How well are we listening today?

For the same God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, the same God of David and Solomon and Isaiah, the same God who sent His only Son Jesus to live and die for us out of love and a desire to offer us salvation, this God is still the one and only God, the Lord God Almighty who has no equal or rival.

This God is just as for us now as He was for His people more than 2,000 years ago and He demands our obedience just as much too.

So how well are we complying with Him? How well are we following His will and way? Are we worshipping the things of the world, modern day idols that offer themselves to us for our adoration and attention? Are we going down the same road and making the same mistakes as the people of Israel, opening ourselves up for His wrath and judgment?

I’m afraid the answer is yes and the only way we’re going to change that is to get back to basics and that means granting the fullest measure of our devotion to the One we belong to, the One who made us, the One who is ever with us.

For we are the Lord’s and there is no other like Him nor will there ever be.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

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