Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. Deuteronomy 6:4-7
Are the things of God on your mind all day long? Do you ask the Holy Spirit to clarify and explain the things you read in the Word? Do you ponder their meaning? Is your love growing for God in your heart and soul, or has it stagnated? Do you make a purposeful effort to push into the things of God? Do you discuss the things you are thinking about with others? Do you ask your children to consider the concepts and stories about God?
This passage in Deuteronomy is immediately after the ten commandments. The ten commandments are worth consideration as they were the things to help the Israelites know their need for Him, as the commandments and the law constantly show us how far short all of us fall in the expectations of a HOLY God. The commandments would then bring the people to the realization that they needed their sins forgiven. And that’s what the sacrifices were all about. Jesus WAS the fulfillment of that sacrificial system. But our constant need for forgiveness still exists. This is where our confession and repentance before Him come into play in our lives.
Are we actually aware of how many ‘gods’ we put before Him?
Commandment #1: You shall have no other gods before me. Deuteronomy 5:7
In the Hebrew it reads directly like this… No / shall have / You / gods / other / before / Me.
Here the word ‘Me’ interested me. It is panim or paneh (paw-neem’): Meaning …face, faces. It is in noun form with a masculine marker.
The preposition ‘before’ can also mean .. upon, above, over.
From Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers says, “Thou shalt have none other gods before me.—Literally, upon my face, in addition to my presence; or, as Rashi says, “in any place where I am, that is, in the whole world.” “Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit, or whither shall I flee from Thy face?” Idols are, at the very best, only masks which man puts upon the face of God, insulting to His dignity, and tending to conceal Him from our view.”
Are you using a ‘mask’ that you put on the face of God? Because of your fear? Because of your unconfessed sin that you want to hold onto, addiction, grudge, or hatred?
That word paneh is the same word used with Adam and Eve in the garden. Looking into the ‘face’ of God. Who can look into His face and not understand all of you is exposed to Him? That’s why Adam and Eve hid after eating of the forbidden fruit. Are you hiding from God, because you are attempting to put a mask on His face, by putting another ‘god’ over Him? What do you worship more than Him?
Jesus brings us into realization of the full love of the Father for us. Beyond our complete comprehension is His love for us. Ponder how you might be ‘masking’ God in your life. Be brave and ask the Holy Spirit about it.