David Jeremiah writes in his book on true worship - " Joy, it's been said, is the flag you fly from the castle of your heart when the King is in residence there. We need to raise those flags higher ."
Worship is a celebration of the good news - All our sins have been washed away! The Spirit of God has come to dwell in us and will never leave us!  He is transforming us from the inside out to resemble Jesus Christ, our perfect and beautiful Savior! We have the privilege of coming into "the presence and the embrace of God Himself "!  What joy!

Deuteronomy 13

There are 3 "ifs" that are important here;
"If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams..... "(v1-2)
" If your brother, your mother's son, or your son or daughter, or the wife you cherish, or your friend who is as your own soul, entice you......" (v6)
"If you hear in one of your cities.... worthless men have.. seduced the inhabitants..." (v12-13)

If any of these try to entice or seduce you to worship any other god besides the Lord - kill them, destroy them, and do not yield to them!

It does not matter how powerful or wise or exciting the man or woman is,   it doesn't matter how close or dear, or precious a person is,  it does not matter how great the community is - they are not worth following if they are leading us away from the Lord!

Jesus said it this way , " If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. " ( Luke 14:26).    Christ must be the first and only priority.   Deuteronomy puts it this way, " .. for the Lord your God is testing you to find out if you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall follow the Lord your God and fear Him; and shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him."

As a friend and former pastor of mine used to say,  God cannot be just a priority, He must be THE priority in our lives.

Father  in heaven,  You are worthy of all our worship and obedience.  You are worthy of all of our attention and love and sacrifice .  You must be in first place always!  Help us to live in accordance with Your will, loving You with all of our hearts and souls and strength and being.  Let no man, woman, or thing come between us and You.  You alone are our God. Amen.