The Nine Follow the One

by John Michalak

“You shall have no other gods before me.“

Exodus 20:3

It’s not easy to score a strike when bowling.

The amateur will roll their ball down the lane and assume it’s as easy as knocking over a few dominoes. But, due to the weight and placement of each pin, the only reliable way to knock all the pins down is to first aim at the head pin. In most cases, the other nine will fall only after you first hit the one.

God’s Ten Commandments follow a similar rule. We struggle with honoring our father and mother. We covet our neighbor’s stuff. We may not steal cars, but we steal time, goofing off at work. We may not commit adultery, but we struggle with lust. We may not murder, but we harbor hatred towards those who’ve hurt us.

The reason we fail to knock these pins down is that we don’t first focus on the head pin—putting no other gods before the Lord Almighty. We break the other commandments because we serve other gods: materialism, lust, pride, unforgiving attitude. It is only by first focusing our heart on serving God above all other things that we’ll find the other commandments falling in line.

The Lord our God is the One. Aim your ball at the One, and the other nine will follow.

Prayer: Lord, help me to walk with You in every moment of my life. Be on the throne of my heart and be my King forever. I pray in Jesus’ name, amen.