Are we serving priorities or gods ahead of the God we profess to worship?” -Elder DALLIN H. OAKS.
Okay, back from the holiday break and now it’s time to refocus and buckle down to achieving more this new year. And how can one achieve anything without the Heavenly sent help from above?! This self improvement is one that I need to reiterate and reapply in my life. And I’m sure I’m not the only one out there that needs to revisit this principle. The first part of Elder Oaks talk expands on simple truths on having God as our first priority always.
“The Ten Commandments are fundamental to the Christian and Jewish faiths. Given by God to the children of Israel through the prophet Moses, the first two of these commandments direct our worship and our priorities. In the first, the Lord commanded, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3). Centuries later, when Jesus was asked, “Which is the great commandment in the law?” He answered, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” (Matthew 22:36–37).
The second of the Ten Commandments elaborates the direction to have no other gods and identifies what should be the ultimate priority in our lives as His children. “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing” in the heavens or the earth (Exodus 20:4). The commandment then adds, “Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them” (Exodus 20:5). More than merely forbidding physical idols, this states a fundamental priority for all time. Jehovah explains, “For I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, … shewing mercy unto … them that love me, and keep my commandments” (Exodus 20:5–6). The meaning of jealous is revealing. Its Hebrew origin means “possessing sensitive and deep feelings” (Exodus 20:5, footnote b). Thus we offend God when we “serve” other gods—when we have other first priorities.1“
We have to serve our Master first in anything that we do. Remember “What is our ultimate priority?” when we place God first in all our thoughts and righteous desires we can then move on to our other duties. It’s been promised that when you place our Father in Heaven first then He will definitely make sure you’re taken care of throughout the year. Love God Always is my new CTR [Choose The Right] when we love Him always then we’ll always choose His side, always.
Much Love,
#StyleHeirs.