April 19, 2026 | Ptr Aumar Aguilar
What enters your mind when you think of the 10 commandments? Does it make you think of duty or moral obligation? Do you see it as an obsolete code of conduct, written for people who lived thousands of years ago? Or do you recognize it as God-sent?
The 10 commandments have influenced many legal and judicial laws in countries like the US and the Philippines. Yet, they are also specially written by God for the people of today. They are commandments that teach us how to live, but also show us that we are incapable of perfectly obeying them. We are sinners, lawbreakers, people in need of a Savior. They are also commandments that show us the very character of our God who wrote them. He is a God who values our relationship with Him, and One that desires us to love one another.
Last Sunday, we started a new series on the 10 commandments, with week 1 focusing on Worship of the True God.
We are all worshippers. It’s not a matter of whether we worship something or not, but a matter of who and what we worship. For some of us, it could be self, family, money, career, or anything that has become our source of happiness and security. But God calls us to worship Him as our true God, just as He called the Israelites who lived thousands of years before us.
“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery” (v2). Before sharing the 10 commandments, God reintroduces Himself first to the Israelites. He is the Lord, the very same one who brought them out of Egypt, freeing them from hundreds of years of slavery. He is the God who already saved them. These are not commands they needed to follow to be saved, but are commands from a God asking His people to worship Him in gratitude for what He has already done.
He then proceeds, “You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments” (v3-6). Worship God and God alone. Don’t make any image to worship, don’t imagine what He looks like for He is beyond our comprehension. You shall worship no one else apart from God for He is a jealous God, a zealous and fiercely protective God who wants to keep us from the destructive consequences of worshipping other gods. Consequences that do not just impact us, but also our children and grandchildren, who are influenced by what we worship and how they shape our life. We need to worship God exclusively and rightly.
Worship God Exclusively. Our problem is usually not that we do not worship God, but that we worship other things on top of Him. It’s not just God, but God plus something else. These “something else” are things that ultimately receive our time, energy, sacrifice, and obedience. It could be an heirloom, like the one Pastor Aumar’s mom relied on for financial security, or a baby that he and his wife really wanted. It could also be ministry or work that competes with God for our time and energy. Timothy Keller warns, “If you don’t worship God, you worship something, and whatever you worship will shape your life”. We need to be careful about what we worship and treasure. “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matt. 6:19-21).
Worship God Rightly. Idolatry is not only worshipping a false god. It is also attempting to worship the true God in a wrong way. An idol shrinks God into something new, something we imagine, something we can manipulate and control. The Israelites angered God when they fashioned a golden calf. “Come, make us a god who will go before us” (Exo. 32:1-2) they asked Aaron, and he made them an idol to serve as the god who brought them out of Egypt. Like the Israelites, we too often create our own imagined god. Maybe our golden calf is a god who never confronts, never judges, never becomes angry at sin, who exists to serve human desires, whose sole purpose is to make us happy. This imagined god is also displeasing to our Lord.
As we reflect on last Sunday’s message, let’s ask ourselves:
- What is it that you must have to make you happy? What, if taken away from you will lead you into depression and take away life’s meaning?
- Are you self-centered or God-centered in different areas of your life? Do you view finances with self-centered anxiety, control, and greed; or with God-centered trust, generosity, and faithful stewardship? Do you view work with stress and complaints; or as your way of glorifying God by working faithfully for Him? Do you view problems with worry, doubt, and self-reliance; or do you trust God, surrender, seek His will, and give Him thanks?
True worship is our proper response to who God is, what He has done, and what He continues to do. We do it because He is amazing, almighty and worthy of praise. “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for you created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created” (Rev. 4:11). We do it because He is faithful to His promises, and we can trust that “You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever” (Psa. 16:11).