You shall not make for yourself a carved image . . . you shall not bow down to them nor serve them.
As I pointed out in previous blogs, violation of the second commandment has nothing to do with a wood-working project. It has much more to do with allowing thoughts, imaginations, and philosophies to remain in our thinking processes that are in contradiction to Biblical principles. The idea of giving place to ideologies that are unbiblical and false is the way we trespass the second commandment. And such ideologies never remain neutral. There is not an ideology or imagination present in any one of our minds that do not immediately or eventually ask you to serve it or bow to it. As long as such thought patterns don’t violate Biblical boundaries you’re okay.
Notice that the second commandment starts out in singular language (a carved image) but then switches to plural language referencing the carved image as “them.” What is true about carving out an image is that only one will never do. There is simply no fulfillment in a solo false god, no self-actualization in a single fabricated philosophy, and no real gratification in a solitary counterfeit. A lone lie will not do. If we let one into our thinking, then many others will scramble to claim even more of our mental real estate.
A single succinct mandate in the New Testament sums up our assignment in this scenario: “Neither give place to the devil.”
This is why it is vital to read, study, memorize, and meditate on the Scripture. It provides the means to erect a boundary that prevents false ideas from trespassing. And, of course, what is also prevented is the destruction brought to someone’s life who gives place to various deceptions, a destruction that characterizes the very mission of everything that is false.
We will always know the tension of navigating numerous ideologies and thought patterns but in the final analysis, we do not always have the liberty to think as we please. Instead, we are obligated by a holy God to know His ways and to draw on His grace and power so that we will think and do as we ought.
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