This first commandment of God to His people is a reflection of the King of justice. Justice is part of God’s character, just like patience, righteousness, and, ultimately, love. If God is love and God is just, then justice is a reflection of Gods love for us. In addition, God gave us His commandments because He loves us and wants good for us.
Step one towards the good that God has for us – “You shall have no other gods before me.”
In the context of the ancient world, that really meant gods. If you read the rest of the story of the Israelites, you will see this was a difficult commandment for them to keep. It might even seem that we have it easier these days because not many people are walking around worshiping Isis the Egyptian goddess, or Baal the Canaanite god. But we have different “gods” these days.
Security, comfort, money, our job, our kids, our spouse, our image. And so many more. These things have become what we worship, what we spend our waking hours thinking about and focusing on. When this happens to me, all of my priorities get out of order. Things in my life become unjust, particularly the way I treat those around me and what my relationship with God looks like. Because God loves me, He wants the order to be correct. His love is just. To allow Him to do that in my life, I’ve got to do step one — have no other gods before Him.