one GOD to worship

Imagine being oppressed each day by your slave drivers.  Imagine what it would be like to fear for your children and spouse’s safety as they would go out to build a new temple or pyramid.  The abuse the Hebrew people had to endure at the hand of the Egyptians is almost unimaginable.  With that said, if you were a Hebrew all you have ever known is Egyptian culture and religion.  Of course you have heard the stories of Abraham and the promise his God made to him, some even keep the faith, but most don’t.  Maybe you feel guilty or maybe you don’t give it a second thought, but you have very little connection to the God of your people.  Imagine what it would have been like when Moses arrived with the announcement that God was about to free them from their oppression.  Follow that with ten amazing plagues that destroyed your Egyptian oppressors economically, culturally, and spiritually.  The Egyptians served many gods and each plague was a direct attack on those gods.  The Nile was worshipped as a god, so God turned it into blood.  The sun was worshipped, so the God darkened it.  Scholars believed that Egypt even worshipped the first born; so God destroyed them. 
Imagine witnessing the destruction of Egypt’s gods followed by God’s miracles of provision in the desert.  So would it have been so difficult to understand that God’s first command to His people was simply “You shall have no other gods before me”. Until Moses showed up, I think that the idea of having only one God was a new concept to the Hebrew people.  But ever since that command God has expected His people to throw away the gods of their past so that they would Love Him with all of their heart, soul, and mind.  What gods are getting in the way of your faith?  What gods do you need to throw away so that you can serve the only one true God?   Vic