This is the first of the 10 Commandments. God commands His people not to set anything higher than Him. When we think of gods or idols, it is easy to think of Greek or Roman mythology. People prayed to gods like Zeus, Aphrodite or Athena for one thing or another.

But anything can become a god or an idol in our lives. We can take good things like our family, our sport or our dreams and turn them into idols. We can even take bad things like our pain or our hardships and turn them into idols. Anything we elevate above God becomes an idol.

Think of our solar system. The sun at the center sustains life, and all the planets revolve around it. Mercury is the closest planet to the sun. Like many planets, it was named after a Roman god, Mercury. Imagine if Mercury moved into the sun's position at the center and what would result. This would create chaos and destruction because that's not the way the solar system was created to function.

There are things we highly value in our lives, and if we're not careful, we can allow them to travel into the center of our lives. Everything else soon revolves around them, creating disorder and having the potential to do some serious damage. We no longer live the way God created us to live. Athlete, those things we highly value, no matter how good they are, need to stay in the position of Mercury -- near the center, but not in the center. The center position belongs to God, and everything else revolves around Him.

Prayer to consider today: Father, please forgive me for constantly kicking You out of the center of my life and for replacing You with things of this world. That spot is Yours. Help me keep the things in my life in their proper place.

Reflect: What are the things you tend to elevate above God?

Challenge: Share the things that you noticed tend to slip above God with someone close to you. Ask them to pray for you in this area and keep you accountable.

Outreach Challenge: Look around you. Do you see someone who may be going through a hard time or is just overwhelmed with life? Ask to see how you can serve that person (a meal for a family with a newborn, a gift card for diapers or food, go grocery shopping for someone, babysit so parents can go on a date -- just the two of them, mow someone's lawn, etc. Be creative!).