The kids learned a fun song at bible camp last week (thank you Midwest Bible Ministries!) and have been singing it around the house. And if you are at all like me, jingles get stuck in your head really quickly, which can be a blessing and a curse. In this case, it was a blessing – turns out it took me hearing the chorus on repeat in my head for a couple days before a lightbulb would go off. 

Here is the song: 

Perhaps you recognized the 10 commandments. Now I’m not a preacher of the commandments mostly because Jesus summed it up with this statement in John 15:12, “This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.” So I tend to talk more about love than rules – which I still believe is a very important piece of Jesus’ teachings. However something jumped out at me while listening to this chorus on repeat, “Love God first” is the opening line and then closes with “Don’t covet what somebody else has.” 

If we truly “Love God first”, we won’t covet or want or be jealous of what anybody else has – because if we love God first and set our heart, mind, and soul on Him first and foremost, there is no room for “what anybody else has”.

This holds true with all the commandments – If I ‘Love God first’, I will be so full of His love, I won’t seek other ways to fill my emptiness – it’s when I let the world get a foot hold that the emotions run high and my passions and desires drive the flesh – not the heart and love of God.

If we skip the first commandment, the rest crumbles. So when the rest crumbles, it means we skipped the first commandment (step one). We have all been there.

Then, this morning I read the following: 

John 19:15 — “We have no king but Caesar,” the leading priests shouted back.” 

Ooops. They, the LEADING PRIESTS, skipped step one – They had all the other commandments down to a science but they refused to ‘Love God First’. Their only king was Caesar. Our anger and jealousy has a way of revealing our hearts. It’s a humbling truth – and pruning if we allow it.

So why did Jesus in John 15:12 (Love each other as I have loved you) skip the first commandment and jump right to love? Because the first commandment is still the how. That is how Jesus loved us. By loving God first, Jesus reveals the depth of love God has for us. By loving God first and doing the will of His Father in heaven, Jesus reveals God’s love for the world, His creation. Our Father in Heaven, The Creator of it all, loves me! He sent His Son to be a living example of His love for me and for you.

Now that is Freedom.

Amen.