God asks us to sacrifice our time, making sure that he, not our own selfish interests, is first in our lives.” We must not worship our time-a graven image that takes the place of God in many cases. “We serve ourselves much too often when we should be serving the Lord.They worship their possessions, loving things without life.” Many people now fill their hearts with thoughts of riches, power, and fame.
“The scriptures say to have thoughts of God always within our hearts.I recently asked some Latter-day Saints, “What is the modern application of the second commandment?” The following represent a sample of the responses I received: Some are in no physical form at all, but are intangible.” 2 They are not in the image of God or of man, but are developed to give man comfort and enjoyment, to satisfy his wants, ambitions, passions and desires. Some are of metal and plush and chrome, of wood and stone and fabrics. But the idolatry we are most concerned with here is the conscious worshipping of still other gods. Kimball wrote: “There are unfortunately millions today who prostrate themselves before images of gold and silver and wood and stone and clay. What, then, are the consequences of modern idolatry, and how can we guard against breaking this commandment? Golden Calves Today The problem comes when we worship the created instead of the Creator. We understand, of course, that the Lord is pleased to bless us with material necessities and pleasures. In both the first and second commandments, we are taught not to put anything above God in our lives. “The phrase ‘before me’ in the familiar translation ‘Thou shalt have no other gods before me’ is the Hebrew phrase ‘al-panai, which means ‘in front of’-either to the exclusion of another or ‘in preference,’ or ‘in addition to.’ The meaning is clear: those who worship the Lord should not make or adopt any other object to worship.” 1 When anything wastefully dominates our time, compromises our loyalty, or confuses our priorities so that God and his work become second, we are flirting with idolatry. There are “golden calves” all around today-tangible images like cars, and others that are more intangible. Since the Lord has not rescinded the commandment, we need to look at our lives and see if we are worshipping graven images.
20:4.) While this commandment was initially given to fortify Israel against the idolatry rampant in the land of Canaan, it has great application for us today. The second of the Ten Commandments the Lord gave to Moses is “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.” (Ex. The loss prompted him to restructure his priorities.
Then one day he smelled smoke and rushed to his garage, only to see the car’s engine on fire. Having it was the most important thing in his life. One elder said he almost didn’t come on his mission because he couldn’t bear to leave his car. One night just before we went to bed, the elders in my room talked of their reasons for serving missions. The shapes of the idols may have changed since the days of Moses, but the basic principle-allegiance to God above all else-is still the commandment.Īs a new missionary, I stayed in the Salt Lake Mission Home prior to going to Ireland. Refusing to Worship Today’s Graven Images
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