Devotional Thought of the Day:

²  ‘I am Yahweh your God who brought you out of Egypt, where you lived as slaves. ³  ‘You shall have no other gods to rival me.   Exodus 20:2-3 (NJB)

That to which your heart clings and entrusts itself is, I say, really your God.
4 The purpose of this commandment, therefore, is to require true faith and confidence of the heart, and these fly straight to the one true God and cling to him alone. The meaning is: “See to it that you let me alone be your God, and never seek another.” In other words: “Whatever good thing you lack, look to me for it and seek it from me, and whenever you suffer misfortune and distress, come and cling to me. I am the one who will satisfy you and help you out of every need. Only let your heart cling to no one else.”  ( Martin Luther,  The Large Catechism)

We all have gods. We all have someone or something we cling to when all else fails. It may be a formal relationship with a god of a religion. It may be a dream for the future, when everything is “perfect”. It may be something that seems more tangible, our house, our retirement fund, a person in our lives who is nearly always there.

We all cling to, and often fight to defend our gods.

But these gods fail, our dreams don’t become our realities, our relationships are shattered by sin, our finances get plundered by recessions and other emergency needs.

The gods we cling to, that we run to in time of trouble, fail.

Many Bible translations will use the word lord in all capitals in the Bible.  This use of LORD is how they will type God’s name, in fear they will somehow misuse it. I think God understands that, and will respond whether we call him God, LORD or Yahwher (closest we can get to pronouncing His name in Hebrew)

But that is why He comes to us, why He has always forgiven those who cry out, crushed by their guilt and shame. It is why Jesus came, to reveal to us that God the Father loves us, as much as He loves Jesus, His only begotten Son.  He sends the Holy Spirit, the comforter, to be with us, to help us realize peace when everything is falling apart.

Even when those other gods fail, He will answer us. He will heal our brokenness, He will free us from guilt and shame, and restore us to a life that is meant to be spent with Him. This is His promise to you, to be your God, to be the one you can run too, and find rest and peace in, even in the midst of life’s brokenness.

Call out to Him, He has promised to answer… even if you do not believe if you do not trust in Him yet.