Description
Understanding the Second Commandment: Avoiding Idols
In this episode of our miniseries on the 10 Commandments, we explo… (visit YouTube for more)
Transcript
This is our miniseries on the 10 Commandments, and the second commandment follows on from the first. First is, there’s only one. God serve him only. The second is don’t have any idols. Let’s meditate on that together today. It’s Exodus chapter 20, verse four. You shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth.
What is this verse saying to us? God doesn’t want us to create anything that’s going to take or usurp his place. If we look at a painting of Jesus and that makes us worship, how can we be sure we’re worshiping the real Jesus and not the painting?
Now this is not me having a go at art or artists even. We just need to be wary, don’t we, my friends, that all of the worship and praise that should be directed to God is directed to God and not to anything else.
We are prone to creating all sorts of idols, aren’t we, not only visual ones. We can make an idol of our career. We can make an idol of our reputation. We can make an idol of our status. And all of these things are pitted against the glory of God. God isn’t going to share his glory with anyone or anything.
And so while we can do things and make things that express our creativity, which is given to us by God, who is creative, we have to be careful that none of these things are taking his place. We can make something, something artistic that praises God, as long as we don’t make it God in place of God.
It might be easy to dismiss this as something that we would never do, but if we think about it, there are so many things aren’t there that take up a lot of our thoughts that we dwell on. I don’t what it is for you, but for me, I really like cars. Am I allowing that Maserati Quattroporte that I will never own to take a place in my heart that belongs solely to God?
So we tread that fine line, don’t we? Between appreciating all of the creativity, the gifts he’s given us, and the things that he’s placed in this earth for our enjoyment and giving proper respect to the Maker of everything.
