Thought For the Day: 01/09/08

Serving God and Loving Him
A Commitment to Obeying
“Idol Worship
Exodus 20:4 – 6

Yesterday, I neglected to write my daily devotional. I got preoccupied with something else, and when I came to my desk, I had no focus. I did start one on something, but I couldn’t finish. Maybe it was because I was concentrating too hard on the one statement I heard on the radio. I’ll do a ‘Thought for the Day,’ on it later, maybe. I continue on my thoughts of the Ten Commandments. We need to remember that the Ten Commandments are laws with purpose. God put these laws in the hand of man to guide each of us closer to HIM. The second Commandment in the book of Exodus covers 3 verses. It could be taken as a continuation of the first Commandment, but if you look at the punctuation in the verses, it separates itself from the second one. The Lord said, “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.” Some of the things that I’ve thought about are being written and some people may say that I am reaching. However, think these things out and allow the Holy Spirit to guide you in these areas and show you if I am wrong or not.
About two years after I was saved, I was going to an Independent Baptist church then, I was studying the Bible one night and came across these scriptures. I really looked at all of them, and I’ll admit, I was really ignorant to the scriptures then, and some would be glad to know that I feel like I still am. At that time, I was into wildlife big time. One of my favorite birds is the owl. Deer of course is right up there with them, maybe a little above. I really just love wildlife and how my God made them. However, I had pictures of owls, statues of owls, and figurines of owls. I just found them really neat. Yes, I’ve got antlers of deer that I’ve killed, pictures of deer, and I have been tempted to buy figurines of them too. Today, you can go to any whatnot store and find figurines of anything you like. If you can’t find them at a store you can find them on the internet. We just have more than you, or I, can afford, and too many venues. If you look at verse 4, the Lord is specific in what HE says. “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:” Notice the colon? This is a complete sentence, or statement. Now think about how many people pay money, and some big money, for angels. Oh no! Not the Angels! See we can’t draw a line on this verse. Granted, I don’t know anyone personally who bows down to any of the wild life statue, or figurines. However, the word ‘any’ in verse 4 is very specific.
If you ask anyone who believes in the Lord, you will find all of them believe in angels too. And, yes, angels do exists. However, they are not meant to be worshipped. Today you can find angels anywhere. I know a lady who collects the graven images. Does she think those angels protect her? In all actuality I don’t believe she does. I know I’m picking on different things, but the Lord was very clear in what HE said. “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven images.” Man always wants to redraw the lines that God has already drawn, don’t you think?
The second part of this commandment is clear too. “Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them:” There’s another colon. People make gods of things in their lives. When deer season comes around, people spend thousands of dollars to do this hobby. Some spend as much as 10,000 dollars to kill the ‘big one.’ Others do the fishing thing, and still others do even more hobbies. People devote a ton of time to doing these activities and can’t spend more that 5 hours a week serving God. It’s seems impossible for us to spend an hour a day in studying God’s Word. Something that really hits home is this; we spend more money on these activities than we give to God. Could this be bowing down to other gods? It’s just a question for thought. Of course I’ve only picked on two or three things, but we are all guilty of devoting tons of time to activities we like. Football is one of my most favorite sports. I officiate it, I watch it, I record it, and yes I’m a die hard Cowboy fan in the NFL. The Longhorns are my favorite college team. I have favorite teams in a lot of sports. It could probably be said that I’m almost to the point of allowing a sport to be a god to me. But, I’m not. I can remember times when I would miss church simply because I wanted to watch football. Shame on me! I’ve picked on hobbies, but some allow their personal lives and jobs and maybe other things to come between them and the Lord. We need to be careful about the neglect of God in our lives, and I think the points that the Lord is making is that HE does not want anything to come before HIM. Why?
He steps up and tells us why in the third point of this passage. “for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God.” He desires our time. Hobbies are there because the Lord allows them to be. There is nothing wrong with doing these hobbies, or any other hobbies that people like to do, but they all have their place. I realize that we go on vacation and do things on weekends, including Sundays, and I don’t believe God gets angry at us for doing this periodically. However, the Lord needs to be in front of these hobbies. I dare say that if they are put in front of God in our lives, that we are serving other gods. There is a penalty for these poor decisions on our part, and they are tough. The punishment extends to the third and fourth generation of our families, for those who hate HIM. Hate is a word that isn’t necessarily expressed just by words, it is shown by action. This means our children, grandchildren, great and great great grandchildren suffer for our choices.
The one thing that does stand out more to me in this commandment is the statement that God makes in verse 6. “And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.” Jesus Christ shows mercy to those who seek HIM. Thousands on top of thousands have been saved because they sought HIM. HIS children who choose to go in different directions at times always come back to HIS mercy. However, HIS mercy has a stipulation. We must love HIM and obey or keep HIS commandments. Jesus told the disciples, in John 14:15, “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” In John 15:14 He said, “Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.” These are two statements that back up the Lords statement in Exodus 20:6. If, and that little two letter word is a larger word than it appears: If we really love the Lord, we will put HIM first and will make every effort we can to obey HIM. To do this we must put all of our ideas and wants to the side and ask HIM for guidance. The first of two commandments are stipulations in how to love God, with all thy heart, soul, and mind. It is up to us on how we decide to choose. The choice is clearly stated on what God wants us to do, but now it’s your move.