00:00From the earliest days of the nation of Israel, God has declared that he would not share his
00:11position with another. Etched into the Ten Commandments, he called us to have no other
00:17god before him. And he wasn't just talking about supernatural deities. We human beings have an
00:24uncanny knack for turning just about anything into a god, money, sex, celebrity, food, and
00:30whatever else we can imagine. Perhaps the most significant competitor for God's supreme place
00:36in our lives isn't something else. It's in ourselves. Our pride wants to shove God off his
00:43throne and take up that spot to become the gods of our own lives. Power and success often feed this
00:49pride. Case in point. Herod Agrippa I, who was the king of Judea when the early church was just
00:57getting started. One day, following a trade dispute, Agrippa gave a speech, and the people praised his
01:04oratory skills as if he were a god, not a man. But rather than correcting the crowds and giving glory
01:10to the Lord, Agrippa soaked it up. As a result, an angel killed him on the spot. Now you might think
01:18that's a crazy story. But the truth is, even if they're not that extreme, there are consequences
01:24when we put ourselves above God. So today, let's choose to be people who spend our lives in praise
01:31and pursuit of our Heavenly Father above all else, even ourselves.
