75. No Other Gods
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I will bow down...and will praise your name
for your love and your faithfulness,
for you have exalted above all things
your name and your word.
Psalm 138:2T
HEfirst of God’s Ten Commandments requires that we bow
down to him and to no other gods (Exod. 20:3). It requires that
we surrender our lives to him, bend our wills to him, and allow the
life force of his love to soak into every part of our personalities until
we are fully and freely his.
To live this way is to walk a difficult road. It is a way of life that
requires practice. But it is a journey that brings with it the joy and
fulfillment for which we were created.
In her book Creative Silence,Jeanie Miley made the following con-
fession regarding the worship of “other gods” in her own life:
Repeatedly, I surrender my will—my stubborn, stiff-backed will
that thinks it knows best and insists on having its own way. I give
God my mind and emotions, my body, my gifts, and my efforts. I