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By Mike Caton

Exodus 34:17, “Do not make any idols.”

God cannot make it any clearer to his people, can he? We know there is no one else like God. And we have talked about the qualities that make him God: omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, the creator and sustainer, and we could go on and on with that list. And simply put, there is no one and nothing that can compare to him. God is unique. And God wants his people to be fully committed to him. This is not to stroke his ego, this is because he wants the best for the people he created, calls and loves. He simply wants the best for us.

And if we reject him, there are consequences. God is not diminished by our rejection or lack of commitment. He does not become weaker or less God because we do not follow him. But we certainly chose a more difficult path for ourselves, we chose to do things our way and we do not pick the best way. We end up doing things the hard way, and we have to suffer the results. We might not see it at the moment, our senses being blinded by what we are doing. But putting something in the place that belongs to God is never going to work out.

That is why there is a prohibition about making idols. Maybe we think of idols as statues or something along that line. And we would never do that, would we? But anything, anything that we allow to come before God in our lives is an idol. People spend years making idols of their career, their families, their hobbies, their money, honestly the list is endless. Anything that we allow to come before God, is an idol to us.

Father, may I never put anything in your place. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Mike Caton is the preacher at Mount Olive Church of Christ in Belhaven. He volunteers at the Ponzer Fire Department and works as a full time AEMT with Hyde County EMS. Follow Mount Olive Church of Christ on Facebook for daily devotions.

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