Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

“You shall have no other gods before me.

• Exodus 20:3

“Q. 42. Which is the First Commandment?
“A. The First Commandment is, ‘Thou shalt have no other gods before me.’ ”

• Charles H. Spurgeon, Spurgeon’s Catechism (Scripture proofs in bold above)

“Q. 45. Which is the First Commandment?
“A. The First Commandment is, ‘Thou shalt have no other gods before me.’ ”

• The Shorter Catechism (Westminster Assembly)

“Q. 103. Which is the First Commandment?
“A. The First Commandment is, ‘Thou shalt have no other gods before me.’ ”

• The Larger Catechism (Westminster Assembly)

The Larger Catechism, Shorter Catechism and the Spurgeon Catechism are identical in wording.  My copy of the Spurgeon Catechism shows no biblical proofs, which I think must be a typo.

I have written often about how we take control of our lives at times.  We think we can go without God because this next task is something that I have done before.  But each time we do so, we are putting God off onto a shelf.  We are not trusting in Him.

When we worry over the election results or we get excited that someone new will be in the leadership role, are we not relying upon mere humans rather than relying on God?

I cried buckets when my beloved Baltimore Colts lost in Super Bowl III.  Johnny Unitas did not win the game when he entered the game late.  I idolized my sports hero, but it required more than his skill and the team lost.  That was a young teenaged version of me, but that was placing someone on a pedestal.  That person failed me that day.  That should have shown me that worshiping someone here on earth was not what God wanted in my life.

The day after I wrote this, I found an article on MSN.com, a site I rarely read. The article listed the ten things that people treat as religions but are not religions. In Judeo-Christian language, what we worship other than God. I will just list the top ten with little explanation. They are listed in order of the votes received.

• Sports in General (SEC {Southeastern Conference} sports specifically noted)
• Celebrities
• Politics
• Multi-Level Marketing
• College Football
• Disney
• Workaholism Hustle
• Cricket in India
• Homeopathy – essential oils
• 420 Culture – smoke weed to “cure” anything

And in a couple of weeks in the Vespers service, we will look at taking that one step further, by not worshiping something made by those people whom we should not worship.

We are all creatures, created by God.  Everything around us are things created by God.  We should only worship God.

And now let us sing.

The following song is For the Beauty of the Earth is sung by TheNcrew.  He slowly goes through the first verse and then picks up the pace slowly.  The verses that he sings, and copied below, leave out the fourth verse from my old hymnbook and they add another.

“1. For the beauty of the earth,
For the glory of the skies,
For the love which from our birth
Over and around us lies.

Refrain: Lord of all to Thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise.

2. For the wonder of each hour,
Of the day and of the night,
Hill and vale, and tree and flower,
Sun and moon, and stars of light.(Refrain)
3. For the joy of human love,
Brother, sister, parent, child,
Friends on earth and friends above,
For all gentle thoughts and mild.(Refrain)
4. For the church, that evermore
Lifteth holy hands above,
Offering up on every shore
Her pure sacrifice of love.(Refrain)
5. For Thyself, best Gift Divine.
To our race so freely given,
For that great, great love of Thine,
Peace on earth and joy in Heaven.(Refrain).”

• Folliott B. Pierpoint, For the Beauty of the Earth

Closing Prayer

Dear Lord,
We need You.  You are the one true God.  You alone are worthy of praise.  Without You we are nothing.  Regardless of how pius we may pretend to be, we can never match Your perfection.  We are broken, in need of Your healing hands.  May we always glorify You and You alone.
In thy Name we pray.
Amen

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.