Empty Images

(God's Second Commandment)

"You shall not make for yourself a carved image - 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; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I the Lord your God, am a jealous God."

Exodus 20:4-5

God, our Father, wants nothing to stand in His place. He is saying in this commandment,

"I am your God. I am your Redeemer. I saved you. I bought you for myself at a terrible price. Please don't put anything else in my place. I love you. I want to care for, protect, provide for, and bless you. Because of this, I ask you have no other gods in your life."

It's a love issue; a relationship issue. He wants no rivals. His heart toward us never changes. Does mine toward Him?

Is what I want out of my relationship with Him to please Him?

Can I release all of my expectations?

Am I willing to give everything even if I receive nothing?

Our commitment to Him is eternal, and God takes it very seriously. NOTHING is to come between me and him.

1 John 5:21

Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.

What are those idols or images today?

Material things-

Matt 6:24 "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money."

Col 3:5 "Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry." (GREED is idolatry!!!!)

Power, pleasure, fame, status, all these things are idolatry.

If my purpose in life is anything other than God, then I have slipped into idolatry.

What is it that captures us? Our attention, interest, money, time, commitment are drawn somewhere. Whatever it is that controls out thought and desires is an idol.

1. Over time, any false image will affect us;

Psalm 135:15-18 "The idols of the nations are silver and gold, made by the hands of men. They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but they cannot see; they have ears, but cannot hear, nor is there breath in their mouths.
Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them."

We become like that image or idol.

Jeremiah 2:5 "This is what the LORD says: 'What fault did your fathers find in me, that they strayed so far from me? They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves." "

We are never satisfied and are always wanting more.

2. They will lead us astray into places where God does not want us to go.

Phil 2:15-16 "so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe
as you hold out the word of life--in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing."

This is God's promise to us if we are faithful to Him.

3. They will always deceive us.

1 John 3:2 "Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is."

He will never deceive us or cause us to be deceived.

Everything we work for in Jesus' name bears good fruit. Why would we chose to chase shadows???