Dirk Taljaard
Reading from Scripture
Exodus 20:4-5
Do not make for yourselves images of anything in heaven or on earth or in the water under the earth. Do not bow down to any idol or worship it, because I am the Lord your God and I tolerate no rivals.
The second commandment stipulates a certain way of worship. Humans have been conditioned to think in concrete terms and often have difficulty with abstractions. Therefore they want to see in order to be able to believe. This also applies to religion: people wanted to create an image of their god in order to have him present in a visible way. That is why idols were made. Even Israel fell into this trap when they made the gold bull-calf.
The Lord, however, is the initiator. He always approaches man first and takes the first step. He is the One who supplies their very needs. His omnipresence does not allow anyone to pin Him down or to limit Him to one place. Whenever people tried to do just that, it was in fact an attempt to equate Him to idols. And that would be unthinkable. Moreover, by doing so, they equated themselves with all the other nations – without a testimony.
Does this apply to us? We still erect monuments and statues in honour of people, and often we ‘worship’ them for their achievements; subconsciously we believe that God is only to be ‘found’ within the walls of a church; we operate differently on a Sunday, compared to the rest of the week; some people want to hijack God for their own religious tradition, or nation; others only go to church when a certain minister or pastor preaches….
It is a pity that we as Christians bring Christianity into disrepute by confusing others and dividing people by not speaking with one voice. We serve the same Lord, but we portray Him in our traditions and theology in such a way that outsiders will never recognise Him. Our own image of God, our own idea of Him often becomes so real to us, that we find it difficult to step out of this framework. If tried, it confuses us.
Dear Lord, I want to serve You, and You alone. Amen.