“You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea.” (Exodus 20:4 NLT)

The second commandment must have resonated powerfully with the Israelites because when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments, the people were worshiping a golden calf—an idol they had created while Moses was away. Understanding their mindset helps us understand the importance of the second commandment.

The first thing we need to recognize is that before they started worshiping the golden calf, the people had a feast dedicated to the Lord that included peace offerings and burnt offerings. They mingled what was right with what was wrong.

Essentially, they were saying, “This godliness of Moses is too high for us. We want a spirituality that we can relate to. Something we can see and touch. Something that appeals to the senses. We don’t want to feel guilty if we don’t do what God says. So, we will just make up our own version.”

That describes the spirituality of many people today. But what if we applied the same logic to other areas? Imagine an airline pilot saying, “I’m tired of all these charts, buttons, lights, and gauges. Let’s just take off and go with the flow.” Or a surgeon saying, “I don’t know what this artery or this section of the brain does. Just give me a scalpel, and let’s see what happens.” Or a person saying, “Traffic laws are your truth, not mine. You’re free to believe that red means stop, but you must also respect my belief that red means go.”

We recognize that there are absolute truths that we all must live by—in aviation, in medicine, and on the road. But instead of recognizing that there are absolute truths about God, people try to give Him a twenty-first-century makeover.

People say, “My god would never judge a person” or “My god would never send a person to Hell.” That’s the spirit of idolatry—substituting a concept of God that appeals to us for the God who makes Himself known in His Word. The goal is not to conform God and the teachings of Scripture to the shifting winds of culture. The goal is to try to bend the culture back to the teaching of the Word of God.

The same principle applies to rituals or religious tchotchkes that take the place of genuine worship and prayer. You don’t need a picture of Jesus or a crucifix or any other icon to get close to God. Any object or ritual that works its way into your relationship with the Lord has the potential to become an idol.

If you have a personal relationship with Christ, and if you have a Bible, you have everything you need to worship and serve God. Celebrate the true God. Don’t let facsimiles take His place in your life.

Reflection question: What facsimiles of faith do you see in the lives of people around you? Discuss Today's Devo in Harvest Discipleship!

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“I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery. You must not have any other god but me.” (Exodus 20:2–3 NLT)

“You must not have any other god but me.” God placed this commandment first because it gets to the heart of the matter. If God isn’t first in your life, everything else is going to break down.

A man once asked Jesus, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said, “Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.” The Bible tells us that the man “went away sad, for he had many possessions” (see Mark 10:17–22 NLT).

This was not about the man’s possessions; this was about his heart. Jesus could tell that the man was in love with things, and that they were more important than God to him. He had another god before the true God and refused to give it up. That’s why he went away sad.

Everyone has a god. Everyone bows at some altar. Everyone worships someone or something. For some, it’s possessions or money. For others, it’s physical appearance. For others, it’s success or fame. Your god is what you spend your time pursuing. The problem is, if your god is anything but God, the result of your pursuit will be emptiness. No other god can bring you genuine joy, fulfillment, or purpose.

God isn’t an aloof deity who simply demands exclusive claim on our lives. Look at His words in Exodus 20:2: “I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery” (NLT).

The words “I am the Lord” convey a profound and fundamental truth about God. With these words, He is refuting all other belief systems. He is revealing His personal nature. He is, in essence, saying, “I feel. I think. I act.”

To the pantheists who believe that everything is God, the Lord says, “No, I am God. Nothing else is.” To the polytheists who believe in many different gods, God doesn’t say, “We are the Lord your gods”; He says, “I am the Lord.” Singular. To the deists who believe that God is indifferent to His creation, that He has no plan or purpose for our lives, the Lord says, “I rescued you from slavery.”

He is the God who sees, hears, and cares. He leads, protects, and blesses His people. In the first commandment, God is saying, “I love you. You belong to Me. I brought you out of bondage. And because I’ve done all that for you, I expect that you will want to serve Me. I want an exclusive relationship with you, and you can have one with Me as well. I did these things for you. Now you should respond in kind. So, have no other gods before Me.”

We all worship someone or something. At what altar do you bow?

Reflection question: What might become a god for you if you’re not careful? Discuss Today's Devo in Harvest Discipleship!

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The audio production of the podcast "Daily Devotions from Greg Laurie" utilizes Generative AI technology. This allows us to deliver consistent, high-quality content while preserving Harvest's mission to "know God and make Him known."

All devotional content is written and owned by Pastor Greg Laurie.

Listen to the Greg Laurie Podcast

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“Then God gave the people all these instructions.” (Exodus 20:1 NLT)

Years ago, I was looking out the window into our backyard and noticed that my German shepherd was staring intently at something. There, nestled deeply in the grass, was a brightly colored little bird. Not the kind of bird you would normally see in the wild. It looked more like something you would get from a pet shop. I went out to investigate and found this pretty little finch shaking in fright as my dog eyed it. The bird was fearing for its life. And justly so because I think my dog was looking at it as lunch.

I stooped down and held out my index finger, and the little bird hopped right on. So, I thought, “This is someone’s pet that got away.” I walked into the kitchen where my wife was making lunch. I said, “Cathe, look what I just found in the backyard.” She stared at the beautiful little bird, still very nervous, sitting on my finger.

We didn’t know what to do with it. We knew it probably belonged to someone, but we didn’t know who. My son Jonathan recalled that there was a little girl down the street whose pet bird had died and who still had its cage. He ran down the street, came back with the cage, and set it on the counter. I opened the door and very carefully brought my finger next to it. The bird immediately jumped in. The moment that bird was in the safety of the cage, he started acting like he was home. He chirped cheerfully. He moved from perch to perch. He was happy. And then it dawned on me what was going on. This was a bird of captivity, one that was most comfortable living in a cage.

Some people might say, “Oh, that’s so cruel. Don’t put animals in cages. Set them free.” This bird was fearing for his life. He didn’t look at those bars as a prison keeping him in. He saw them as walls of protection keeping his enemies, like my dog, out. He found security in the safety of that little cage.

That brings me to the topic that we will be covering next in these devotions. God has given us His absolute truth—in the Ten Commandments, among other places. These commandments let us know what’s right and what’s wrong, what’s true and what’s false, what’s up and what’s down. They create a framework for our lives—a spiritual cage, of sorts. But their purpose is not to trap us or keep us in bondage. Instead, they provide a barrier of protection to keep evil out.

Our enemy, the devil, tries to chip away at it. He downplays the effects of disobeying God or ignoring His commands. He tries to convince us that our protective barrier keeps us from a more exciting, fulfilling life. In other words, he lies. Over the next ten days, we’re going to examine each of God’s Ten Commandments so that you will see the life-giving truth behind each one.

Reflection question: What impact do God’s commands in Scripture have in your life? Discuss Today's Devo in Harvest Discipleship!

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The audio production of the podcast "Daily Devotions from Greg Laurie" utilizes Generative AI technology. This allows us to deliver consistent, high-quality content while preserving Harvest's mission to "know God and make Him known."

All devotional content is written and owned by Pastor Greg Laurie.

Listen to the Greg Laurie Podcast

Become a Harvest Partner

Support the show: https://harvest.org/support

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.