For us, it may seem easy to worship one God, but for Israel this was not the case.  They lived in a region surrounded by many nations that believed in multiple gods.  Human disposition often is to do what the majority is doing in order to belong.  To worship one God would make Israel different and a target.  It would be easier to fall into the trap of worshiping multiple gods to have peace treaties, get along with neighboring nations, and be comfortable.  But God does not call us into comfort.  He calls us to Himself.  Today we commonly do not struggle with worshiping multiple gods as the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, or Romans, but we do still struggle with the Commandment.  Our struggle usually centers on placing faith in something other than the One God.

              One way we struggle with this Commandment comes with our superstitions.  As a kid, I would believe that my lucky basketball card gave me blessed fortune on spelling tests, so I always brought it with me to school.  The card brought me comfort, but it did not make me a better speller.  Often we place our faith in something believing it brings us fortune and luck, but it only brings us comfort.  And, even worse, if we do not follow the superstition, we believe that is why bad things happen.  The problem is, we place our trust and faith in something that has no power.  The First Commandment points out that we have one LORD God.  The Lord is in all caps to show it is not any God, but a specific God.  In Scripture, when LORD appears, it is a translation from YHWH or “Yahweh” the unspeakable name of the One God.  The name God gives to Moses at the burning bush.  We don’t just believe in one God.  We believe in a personal God who revealed His name and Himself to us.  He did it so that we would come to believe, trust, and surrender ourselves to Him.  We have no need for trinkets that have no power of luck.  We have only the need of our LORD.

              We may not be making golden calves, but we still struggle with idolatry.  It is not just worshiping a pagan god; rather, idolatry is divinizing something that is not God.  We give something or someone honor and reverence that is entitled to God alone.  One of the most apparent objects is the cell phone today.  People crouch down to use the phone.  In fact, from a distance when people use their phone, it is a prayer position with hands together and bent over, but instead of praying to God one is revering an object.  Cell phones can be a valuable tool for work and even worship.  I use my phone to pray my daily prayers, to do reflections, and read the daily readings; but, we must be careful with cell phones and other objects. We should not habitually attach ourselves to them.  A graver and more blurry idolatry is making another person into an idol.  We have the saints in the church to idolize to help us learn how to live the Faith.  There are people we should respect in the world who model how to be good people.  These are good things.  The dangerous thing comes when everything we are and do and think centers on that one person.  The Commandment includes us loving the LORD with all our heart, soul, and strength.  We do love people and there are many great people in this world we should seek to immolate, but we need to make sure God has His proper place.

              The final form of breaking this Commandment deals with irreligious things that occur when we allow ourselves to fall away from our Faith.  Sacrilege is profaning the Church and the Sacraments.  We think that it is unlikely, but we can do it when we come to church unprepared and enter chewing gum, not doing our hour fast before receiving the Eucharist, or receiving the Eucharist in the state of mortal sin.  Even entering the church and gossiping with people can be irreverent.  It simply is a challenge for us to enter into the church with the proper mindset that we are coming into God’s presence. 

              There are many more ways we could possibly reflect on the First Commandment and how we follow it and not follow it in our lives.  The ultimate meaning is we believe in one God and our LORD God is at the center of our lives.  If we can ensure that God remains at the center of everything that we do, then we will be able to keep the First Commandment.