“I am the Lord and there is no other, there is no God besides me.” Isaiah 45:5
This is very likely one of the most recognizable and quoted verses in Scripture. It’s one of those verses that we tend to know, but the question is – do we understand what the Lord is saying to us and are we putting it into practice or living it? The point is clearly made in the Scripture to Cyrus, the Persian ruler, that first of all, there is only “one” God – correcting the Persian belief of multiple deities – and that all honor, glory, worship, and praise belong to the “One” God and through him all good things come to be, something that even makes Cyrus subject to God, that is under the rule of God. We owe it all to God, and to this end, we’re reminded of this truth, the importance of God’s rule and kingdom. We’re therefore humbled as we approach God and practice or live his reign in our lives and in the world, and so, Jesus came into the world to remind us of and to live this truth among us. Jesus’ concern was to place the kingdom of God first in the minds of his followers. You see … even with prophetic proclamations, like Isaiah’s, the people continued to prioritize the world over God – better yet, the people continued to make the world their God, and Jesus definitive response was to place God’s kingdom first. Jesus reminds us that we’re not of the world but in the world.
Now, there’s nothing wrong with enjoying the world; after all, God created the world. As C.S. Lewis once stated, “The badness consists in pursuing [good things] by the wrong method, or in the wrong way, or too much,” or to say it another way, when we make that which we pursue our “god.” In building then the kingdom of God and placing it first, we’re trying to make use of this world which God created in the right and just way and by acknowledging him as Creator. Otherwise, we’re stealing from God, filling ourselves with pride, falling into idolatry and blasphemy, and opening ourselves to the evils in the world. We lose sight of God and create other gods. Therefore, our response – our actions in this world are to reflect Jesus’ proclamation – living the faith – placing God and his kingdom first. How then are we placing God first in our lives? Are we fulfilling our Sunday obligation, for example, to be nourished by his Word and Eucharist? Are we making time to be with him? Can we then state with our lives: “you are my Lord and there is no other, there is no God besides you?”
In Christ
Fr Robert Marquez
Pastor of Saint Charles Borromeo Catholic Community