No Other Gods
Does wishing on a charm make Liz and Spike the most popular kids in school? Grandpa decides to teach the kids a lesson "Elijah style".
Before You ListenLet's Get Started
Theme: 10 Commandments #1 - No Other Gods.
1. Exodus 20:3 says, “You shall have no other gods before me.” Why does God not want us to worship any other gods?
2. You can read the story of Elijah in 1 Kings 18:16-45. Elijah was a prophet that brought God’s message to the people of Israel. The Israelites were worshiping a god named Baal and God was angry. Elijah arranged for a contest between God and Baal. The prophets of Baal made an altar and called to Baal to light it with fire. Nothing happened, no matter how hard they prayed and danced and begged. Elijah made an altar to God. He told the prophets of Baal to soak it with water over and over again. Then Elijah prayed to God and God sent fire that burned the offering, the altar, the stones, the soil and all the water around it. God showed his power to the Israelites who had forgotten him and had let idols become their focus. Think about how God hates when things become more important to us than him as you listen to today’s program.
After you listen
Quiz
Reflect
In this episode, Liz and the gang start believing a good luck charm will grant them wishes.
Have you ever made a wish "upon a star"? Or thrown pennies in a fountain to get what you wish for? Or do you have a good luck charm you carry around just in case? Sometimes we begin to depend on these things, just like the people of Israel depended on Baal. We start to trust in these trinkets instead of God. This is exactly what God tells us not to do in the first commandment.
The first commandment is "You shall have no other gods before me." And all the other commandments relate to this one: Put God first and you won't worship idols. Put God first and you won't misuse his name. Put God first and you'll set aside one day out of seven for worship and service. Put God first and you'll honor your parents. Put God first and you won't murder, commit adultery, steal, lie, or be jealous of what other people have. Are you putting anything before God?
Want to dig deeper about putting God first? Read Proverbs 3:6, Matthew 6:33 and Proverbs 16:3
Challenge
Are you putting something or someone ahead of God in your life? Have each member of your family write down anything that they may be putting before God. Share your lists with each other. Then come up with some ways to protect yourself from these idols. Together, pray a prayer of promise to God that from now on you will have no gods before the one true God, the God of the Bible.
