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I remember the first time I was introduced to the Ten Commandments. Going to a religious school, we had to memorize them as we studied each of the 10 in turn.

The First Commandment was especially stressed, as it was the backbone of what was to follow: "I am the Lord your God, you shall have no other gods before me." If we actually put God first, before any other desires or needs or wants, how much less would we even need the other nine? How much better would the world be? This was stressed by my teachers, the nuns, and by my parents as well. I am certain that it is much the same story for all of you who learned these rules and committed them to memory; and I am sure we all really try to live by them, the God intended. But that first one, the one that tells us to put God first and have no other gods before Him, can be tricky because, after all, we are human.

We all realize that God is first in our lives. We know He is greater than anything or anyone in our life or even our world, but how does that really affect our lives? How often do we forget that God comes first?

I know we don't mean to; I know we know better; but life and split decisions and keeping up with the house and the neighbors can overtake us, and then we fall into the trap of putting other things or people first.

Are we putting God first when we live outside our means? When we "must" buy that house that is too expensive and really too big for us anyway? Are we putting God first when our closets are bulging and we continue to buy new stuff to "look chic" or to simply feed our ego? What about when we worry about money, putting it as the measure of our success to the detriment of everything else? How many of us have found ourselves bragging about our kids, or putting all of our effort and energy into our marriages, to the point that these relationships are so important in our lives that God takes a distant second. I know I have been guilty of this sometimes, but I am not proud to report this.

Yet God has commanded us to keep Him first in our lives. We learn this at an early age. We profess to believe this and I think we really do believe, but we can fall short of what is expected of us, can't we?

The question was recently asked of me, "Do really love God more than your husband and children and grandchildren?" "Yes, I really do." All things other than God are temporary, at least in this world. Anyone or anything can be gone in an instant.

Spouses or children die, or unfortunately leave us. Houses can be lost or burned to the ground. Friendships may fritter away and relatives can drift too. Our wealth, no matter how well we have planned, can be gone in an instant, or dwindled to a fraction to what it was previously. We've seen this all too much in the recent recession. There is only one constant in our lives, and that constant is God. God is always with us, whether we are basking in joy or enveloped in sadness.

God is always our consoler; He remains with us in our quiet, darkest hours. We are never alone for God is our God and He has made that promise to us.

We love our spouses and our children dearly. We love our friends. We are blessed by all of these wonderful people in our lives, but no and no ting can ever compare with the love God has for us. It is really hard to find the words to express why it is so important to really understand the first commandment, that God is to be our God and no other god is to be put before him. But as sure as I have written this column, I know that God is in control and loves us so much it defies our comprehension, bit that it is certainly true.

I also know that at all times we must strive to put Him in the place where he belongs in our lives: first.

Ann Thomas Rinker has lived in Mount Airy for more than 20 years and has written for The Gazette for most of that time. She is married to Roger L. Rinker, a pastor of Harvest Wind Lutheran Church in New Market. They have three children and two grandchildren. If you would like to respond to her column, e-mail her at atrinker@verizon.net.