Daily Devotion, November 10, 2021

 

Devotion:

Read Exodus 20:1-3.

Once upon a time, when there was a task on my list to be accomplished, the one waiting for this task to be done kindly asked, “But is it at the top of your list?” This question has remained with me, “What is at the top of my list?”

God is forming this new community of people who had been in bondage and slavery. God gives this “I AM” statement of self-disclosure to proclaim to the people who God is and how God is to be “practiced” by this community. God is the One who has brought them out of Egypt and out of the land of slavery. Now God is declaring God’s own claim upon these people. The people are being called to a single loyalty unto this one and only God who has delivered them out of bondage and into freedom.

Rev. Dr. Randall Lolley, preached a sermon on this passage which I have remembered for 30 years. The title of his sermon was, “The Difference Between ‘One’ and Any Other Number.” First he gave a mathematical explanation (from his Physics background) about the number “one” being a unique number. Then his point was that this God isn’t your God unless this God is your one and only focus, loyalty, devotion and worship. He quoted Jesus’ words, “No one can serve two masters.”

If we simply ask ourselves, “Is God at the top of our list?” We miss his point. Too often, we let our devotion to God be a checkmark on our list of “things to do”. It’s not about God being first on our list, it is about God being our focus, our one and only one that we worship, our purpose, our complete trust and our eternal promise.

God’s presence and claim upon our lives calls us to recognize God’s presence in our lives with every breath that we take, every word which we speak, and every action which we take. And in recognizing God’s presence, we follow God’s lead in all which we think, say and do. God calls for our worship for our sake. It is about growing in this relationship with this covenantal God who is forever faithful in keeping the covenant.

Personal Worship Option:

Pause and breathe in God’s presence with you now. God is worthy of our complete trust, worship, thanksgiving and praise. God is always faithful. Amen.