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The First Commandment is God’s demand for man’s exclusive worship.
It is not necessary to worship the sun, the moon and the stars to break this law.
We break it whenever we give to something or someone other than God himself the first place in our thoughts or our affections.
It may be some engrossing sport, absorbing hobby, or selfish ambition.
Or it may be someone whom we idolize.
We may worship a god of gold and silver in the form of safe investments and a healthy bank balance, or a god of wood and stone in the form of property and possessions.
None of these things is necessarily wrong in itself. It only becomes wrong when we give to it the place in our lives which belongs only to God.
Sin is fundamentally the exaltation of self at the expense of God.
For us to keep this First Commandment would be, as Jesus said,
to love the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind;
to make his will our guide and his glory our goal;
to put him first in thought, word and deed;
in business and leisure;
in friendships and career;
in the use of our money, time and talents; at work and at home.
No man has ever kept this commandment except Jesus of Nazareth.
For more samples of the content of John Stott's book (from which this material originates), please click... first commandment ... then click on the title "Basic Christianity".