"You shall have no other gods before me." Exodus 20:3
When the LORD God spoke these words to Moses, and had him deliver them to the Israelites gathered at Mt. Sinai, there was a great deal of meaning to these words. Think about it like this. God had just brought them out of Egypt. God had done might actions to set them free. And yet, if you read through the early chapters of Exodus, we encounter something a little strange to us.
The Egyptian magicians were able to do some of the same things that God the LORD did in terms of plagues. They turned water to blood. They made frogs appear. After that, the LORD God seemed to get to things that were too difficult for them to do, but nevertheless, there were others who could do things that God could do.
So the temptation to discover other gods who could take care of the people was very real, especially since God had given the command that no image ever be made of Him. And that seems to go against something very deep inside us as humans. We want something tangible to turn to when we need help, or when things are going right and we want to say thank you. We have a hard time giving thanks to an invisible and seemingly detached God.
Which brings me to the point of this post today. We humans want to find a reason for the good or the bad that happens in life. Here in the United States, the thing that we have really started to point to as the vital thing in order to do well in life is to have an education. We give credit to our education for so many things. Our education gets us a job. Our education gives us purpose and meaning in life. Our education is the thing that we put our hope in when times are tough. I've noticed this a lot with the recent recession/depression. Where are people turning to make things good in life? For many, the answer is to go back to school.
Now, I'm not here to try to determine when we cross the line to having another god, but the thing that I would point out is that God warns us about looking to other things, things of this world, in order to give meaning to life, or to provide for our life. It's not that God is against us being educated (I say all of this fully aware that I am studying for a doctoral degree, after all). The thing of importance is to realize that our education is a gift of God that enables us to better manage our lives, and is not the thing to put our hope and trust in.
I realize that this seems like a fine distinction that I'm making. But I guess that's even part of the point. How do we know when we've gone from putting our hope in God, and making use of His gifts, to putting our hope in our education and the possibilities that it brings? I would dare say that it's a very fine distinction, a very fine line that we walk.
When the LORD God spoke these words to Moses, and had him deliver them to the Israelites gathered at Mt. Sinai, there was a great deal of meaning to these words. Think about it like this. God had just brought them out of Egypt. God had done might actions to set them free. And yet, if you read through the early chapters of Exodus, we encounter something a little strange to us.
The Egyptian magicians were able to do some of the same things that God the LORD did in terms of plagues. They turned water to blood. They made frogs appear. After that, the LORD God seemed to get to things that were too difficult for them to do, but nevertheless, there were others who could do things that God could do.
So the temptation to discover other gods who could take care of the people was very real, especially since God had given the command that no image ever be made of Him. And that seems to go against something very deep inside us as humans. We want something tangible to turn to when we need help, or when things are going right and we want to say thank you. We have a hard time giving thanks to an invisible and seemingly detached God.
Which brings me to the point of this post today. We humans want to find a reason for the good or the bad that happens in life. Here in the United States, the thing that we have really started to point to as the vital thing in order to do well in life is to have an education. We give credit to our education for so many things. Our education gets us a job. Our education gives us purpose and meaning in life. Our education is the thing that we put our hope in when times are tough. I've noticed this a lot with the recent recession/depression. Where are people turning to make things good in life? For many, the answer is to go back to school.
Now, I'm not here to try to determine when we cross the line to having another god, but the thing that I would point out is that God warns us about looking to other things, things of this world, in order to give meaning to life, or to provide for our life. It's not that God is against us being educated (I say all of this fully aware that I am studying for a doctoral degree, after all). The thing of importance is to realize that our education is a gift of God that enables us to better manage our lives, and is not the thing to put our hope and trust in.
I realize that this seems like a fine distinction that I'm making. But I guess that's even part of the point. How do we know when we've gone from putting our hope in God, and making use of His gifts, to putting our hope in our education and the possibilities that it brings? I would dare say that it's a very fine distinction, a very fine line that we walk.
No comments:
Post a Comment