IT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE!

 In Scripture, the people chosen by God to be His own, wandered away time after time, so much so that the sad accounts in the Old Testament arrest your conscience. Jesus said, "And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment." Mark 12:30. 

Why does God demand so much of us? “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” Exodus 20:3; “...and ye shall not fear other gods...But the LORD your God ye shall fear; and He shall deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies.” 2Ki 17:32-39.

A good answer is: He created us.

Jesus warned, "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves." Matthew 7:15.

Though lies and manufactured philosophies are “shouted from the housetops,” or the internet or the media: "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world." I John 4:1.

"Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him." Deuteronomy 13:4. This is why I read the Old Testament as well as the New.

"Thou shalt have no other gods before me." Exodus 20:3.

If my husband were flirtatious with other women, if he insulted or ignored me, I would say similarly, “No other woman before me.”” (For the LORD, thy God is a jealous God among you)” ...Deuteronomy 6:15. He deserves our awe because He has All Power in Heaven and in earth.

When God created everything as the Bible says, this means our intricate bodies, spirits, souls, minds and nature. If we know this, why would he share His Omnipotent, Omniscient, and Omnipresent power with a "god" made with hands? Think about it. "But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not: They have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not: They have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat. They that make them are like unto them; so is everyone that trusts in them." Psalm 115:3-8.

It is our decision: I have chosen to serve the LORD.