Stop and listen, because the Lord will speak to you from the mountain. Fourth, listen! We are surrounded and constantly accompanied by a cacophony of sound and distraction so that it is increasingly difficult to listen to God. Tell the Lord Jesus you are letting go of anything and anyone other than God. Third, release any and all personal opinions and pet peeves about what you have and what you may think about this subject. Jesus taught us to do this upfront when He said: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name” (Matthew 6:9). Why would the Lord involve our children and grandchildren? Here is what I suggest we do in order to grasp fully God’s intended understanding of this commandment.įive things will help position us to hear from the Lord. After all, it is here that God invokes our children. So, what should we do? This second commandment is no joke. Idolatry is the worship of anything or anyone other than God. We worship sport, celebrities, clothes, money, church buildings, politics, positions, abilities and capabilities. We worship so many of our blessings instead of simply thanking God for them and enjoying them. And it will surprise you what the Lord has done!”ĭespite our blessings, we have become an increasingly idolatrous people.

As a hymn writer has reminded us “Count your blessings, name them one by one. Despite so many who have immense needs and who suffer greatly, we are still a blessed people. And yet, when their leader went up Mount Sinai to hear from the Lord, they began to worship another god.

He parted the sea and provided every means for them to survive-even in the wilderness. After more than 400 years of slavery, God delivered them. When we confess our sin, repent before God and put our faith and trust in Him, we can, once again, have peace with God. By virtue of His death and resurrection, Jesus conquered this rupture in the relationship between God and man. This is why the Lord Jesus Christ came to this Earth to take on Himself the sin of man. God would not share His holy space with another. It immediately became impossible for sinful man to have any semblance of fellowship with a righteous and holy God. Man had not only succumbed to the deceit of Satan, he had transferred his confidence away from God, thus violating God’s supreme demand. He wants us to have peace with Him.īut when Adam and Eve sinned against God, this beautiful and harmonious relationship between the sovereign God and His created person was shattered. The fellowship God had with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden provides a precious picture of God’s intended purpose for those He loves. The sweet aroma of worship between God and man was clearly seen in the beginning.

This is what God expects and demands of all who believe in His name. When we worship, we place our complete confidence and trust in God’s ability to do for us what neither we, nor anyone else, nor anything else, can do for us. You shall not bow down to them or worship them for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me” (Exodus 20:4-5). This commandment is both an encouragement and a warning to us: “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. To begin with, we must understand that God created us so that we might worship Him. Think about this as we try to understand the enormous significance of God’s decree to Moses from the top of Mount Sinai.

Bible graven images