Pastor's Article Sept. 24, 2023

~ Pastor’s  Weekly Article ~
What does God mean to you? How much value do you place on your relationship with the Lord? Does God mean more to you than your job, your family, your home, your hobbies, or is your relationship to God one of the lesser valued aspects of your life? If you call Him Lord, then rightly He ought to be number one in your life. That is the position He deserves or should I say demands for your life to be lived right. I want to give you a simple definition of the First Commandment which is; “Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; 6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments”.
In giving the First Commandment, God also gave a great definition of what it meant to have no other gods before Him. I think it suffices to say that God demands top priority in our lives. Many today think that if they don’t feel this way toward God then it is an impossibility to live that way. We are not to live our life based on feelings, but rather we are to live our life based on priorities and therefore lead our feelings instead of following them. We love what we commit and invest in. If you want to love your children right, love God supremely and in doing so you lead your family into a life of being blessed and experiencing mercy. Love God and in so doing you teach others to love God also. God is a jealous God, who refuses to be number two, three or four in your life. Make certain that you are keeping the First Commandment as you evaluate where your priorities are. Don’t let the blessings God has given you, be more important in your life than the God of all blessings.                                      
Pastor,  Rev. Wayne Marcus