After a thorough study of the scriptures, the Reformers summarized what the first commandment means in this way:
"We should fear, love and trust God above all things."
This means that "having a god" isn't just a matter of statues and creeds; it's a matter of the heart and actions. Do you feel comfortable and secure because you have great health insurance? The gift of life and healing comes from God, whether He uses medicines or miracles to provide it. Would you feel less secure if you lost your insurance? Then be careful you haven't made a god out of health insurance.
Or how about money? Many Christians are confident they don't worship money because they don't drive a flashy sports car or live beyond their means. Well, there was a man named Job who was favored by God and had many possessions, but he lost them all. His wife told him to "curse God and die" - had he done that it would have meant that God wasn't really his god after all. His money and possessions were. Will you praise God for His goodness to you even if you are destitute? If not, you need to think about whether God is really your god!
None of us keeps this commandment perfectly. We are bombarded round about by the message that YOU are the single most important thing in the whole world. Even when advertisements try to convince us to do something good, they often do it by appealing to how good it will make us feel. And when they aren't appealing to our basic desire to please ourselves, they are playing off our fears without any reference to the God who takes care of us. Surrounded by such messages, it's easy to see how we become "brainwashed"... it makes keeping the commandments a real struggle!
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