Daily Reading: 18 May

(from www.christianaid.org.uk)

No other gods but God.

Something to read

There shall be no strange god among you; you shall not bow down to a foreign god.

- Psalm 81:9 from full reading of Psalm 81.

Something to think about

The Bible says a lot about God being a jealous God who will not share his glory with anyone. And so God says to us, in no uncertain terms:

‘I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me (Exodus 20:1-2)'.

I always used to think that God was being a bit self-centred here or a bit over-sensitive. And to self-describe as jealous (Exodus 34:14) always seemed to be a bit contradictory. Isn’t jealousy wrong? And why is God so upset?

The answer lies in the verse from Exodus 20:1 above. God is not saying ‘you should be grateful that I saved you,’ but rather, ‘I am the ONLY one who could save you.’

Why? Not because Our Lord is the most powerful of the many other gods around, but because the other gods are not gods. The writer of Psalms 135 puts it rather well:

‘The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths, but they do not speak; they have eyes, but they do not see; they have ears, but they do not hear, and there is no breath in their mouths' (Psalms 135:15-17).

In other words, they're not real. How can something not real rescue one person let alone a nation? That is God’s point. And so what we perceive as jealousy is frustration and anger that we are in danger of looking in the entirely wrong place for the help we need, and more importantly, only God can give.

It is this belief, that God is the one we need, who can truly help and deliver us, that drives my life and such organisations as Christian Aid.

As God has helped and blessed us, so we work with him to help others. Without that understanding, the overwhelming sense of need in the world could very well drive us into hopeless despair.

Something to do

Read the Ten Commandments again and let them remind you how wonderful they are, and how wonderful and caring is the God who has given them to us.

Let them point to Jesus who lived them out perfectly in his life and ask for grace and strength to do the same.

Something to pray

Loving Creator, thank you that you are our God.
Help me to see only in you is there true love, true grace and true power. Amen.

Today's reading is by Rev Mark Williams, minister in St James’ Church, Uplands, Swansea, Diocese of Brecon and Swansea.