So what is a false God? 7th and 8th graders began their confirmation year by looking at the first commandment the other night. I've been trying to meditate on it all week.
What does this mean?
"You should fear, love, and trust in God above all things."
Luther pointed out that a false god or idol is anything in which you put your faith and trust apart from the one true God made known to us in Christ. It's a pretty humbling experience to sit down and really think about the places where you put your faith and trust. I mean seriously, if I asked you to search your heart and think about the things that bring you security, the things that you've put your faith in in this world, wouldn't the list start with things like the savings you've put away in case something goes wrong, or the insurance policies you have, or the stability of your job, or maybe something like the support of your family, which although less blatantly idolatrous still isn't quite in keeping with the command?
Of course when pushed on the subject we tend to come back to God, right. I mean we have faith in all of these things, but then we want to be able to say that we do have an ultimate faith in God and we acknowledge that he is the one who has blessed us with said job, insurance policies, nest egg, etc. But the question isn't whether we can cognitively trace blessings back to God, the question is where does our heart really put it's faith and trust? I have to admit that my faith and trust tends to go with the items that our society is selling me: namely, insurance policies, proper savings and retirement accounts, etc. and it's bumming me out to think about this. Not because I didn't know that I was sinful. As it says in Romans, "all sin and fall short of the glory of God," right? It bums me out because I know that God wants more for me than to put my trust in things that can give no true security.
It's important, when we look at any of the ten commandments to think about how God begins speaking these words to the people of Israel and to us. The verse where the ten commandments are given in the book of Exodus goes like this:
"I am the Lord your God who brought you out
of the land of Egypt, out of slavery. You shall
have no other God's before me."
This doesn't seem all that significant at first blush, just sounds like standard Bible-talk, right? But notice what God is doing, He's reminding the Israelites who they are and who He is as their God. He's essentially saying:
"Hey, don't forget who I am. I'm the one who loves you and showed it to you by freeing you from slavery, and you are people who were lost without me. So knowing that I love you and that you are free, now I'm going to tell you a thing or two about how to best get along with living your life... First of all, don't put you trust in other people or things because they won't do what I can do. I'm the one who has already freed you..."
And God can say the exact same thing to us today:
"Hey, baptized child of mine. I've freed you from your sins and from all the things that hold you back here on this earth. You are mine and I love you on account of my son, Jesus. In fact, when I look at you I see nothing but him, and I am well pleased. But just to help you along in life, let me tell you a couple of things. First of all, don't put your faith in things like stock markets, and retirement accounts, or even jobs and family, because these things are not perfect and cannot do what I can do. Remember who I am, remember who you are, and put your faith in that..."
You see? God wants us to be free, and has in fact already freed us. Ultimately we are His, but we don't always live like it and therefore don't receive the full benefits of being his children here and now. This is what bums me out. God has given me His full and complete love and security, yet I still fret over things like stocks and bonds... What's up with that?
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