You shall not make for yourself any graven idol, … You shall not bow down to them or serve them;

— Exodus 20:4-5

I imagine that most people would consider the prohibition to worship any graven images the most out-of-date commandment of the Decalogue (the Ten Words)—just a commandment that may have been important a few thousand years ago in the midst of all of the pagan image worshipers. But before the words written in the tables of stone by the finger of the Almighty had even cooled, the people had made a graven image of a golden calf and had risen up to worship it right beneath the face of Jehovah.

Because we in the Western world have lived so long with the Christian culture we would not think of worshiping a statue of any sort. However, as Christianity wanes in the Western lands, in come the foreign gods: from Allah to Hindu gods, from crystals and horoscopes to tarot cards. We are not immune to the love of foreign gods. Perhaps this should give us pause the next time we see a statue of Buddha in a Chinese restaurant.

Question to ponder:
Have you come in contact with people who worship another god?

He who rules over man justly, who rules in the fear of God,

— 2 Samuel 23:3

At a time when some nations are realizing the folly of unbelief and the fatal results in the lives of people, America continues apace down the foolish pathway—toward godlessness and secularism.

Today, having banished the Bible and having attempted to banish God from all spheres of public life, we have found that our Congress cannot even produce a budget, and that it is becoming increasingly impossible to govern this nation.

Robert C. Winthrop, a descendant of Puritan John Winthrop who served as U.S. House Speaker in the early 1800s, said: “It may do for other countries, and other governments to talk about the state supporting religion. Here, under our own free institutions, it is religion which must support the State.”

The founders of this country believed we should inculcate in the minds of youth the fear and love of Deity. But because of our stupidity and unbelief, we have now banned God from the classrooms. We have taken away prayer, the Bible, and the Ten Commandments from our schools and have replaced them with police dogs in the halls, policemen at the doors, and metal detectors. Crime is absolutely epidemic, and teachers are retiring early from battle fatigue. This is the folly of modern America.

Question to ponder:
How can godly people support the state?

I have spoken these things to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.

— John 15:11

The Christian message is a message of joy. God gives us joy and gladness. The singing may sometimes switch to a minor key, but we still sing. Even though there are many sorrows in this world, the Gospel message still provides the most uplifting and joyful words found anywhere. Countless people have attested to this over the centuries, including those who were killed for the sake of its message.

William Tyndale, one of the very first translators of the Bible into English in the 1500s was persecuted and martyred. Nonetheless, he wrote in his Prologue to the New Testament these words: “Christianity is Good, merry, glad and joyful tidings, that makes a man’s heart glad, and makes him sing, dance and leap for joy.”

A man who accepted Christ after a woman from our church shared the Gospel with him, told me of his great joy. “You certainly cannot know,” he said, “you cannot imagine the indescribable joy I have known for the last year since I came to know Christ. I never would have believed it.”

Joy is what Christ brings to the human heart. Christ is no cosmic killjoy, a wet blanket on the party of the world, as some people think He is. Rather, He is the source and fountain of all real joy.

Question to ponder:
How is your joy linked to your faith?

For the LORD is a God of justice; how blessed are all who long for Him.

— Isaiah 30:18

One time an atheistic farmer in New England tried to rob God of His glory. He wrote this letter to the newspaper in the Fall: “I bought my seed on the Sabbath, I sowed it on the Sabbath, I watered it on the Sabbath, I fertilized it on the Sabbath, and I harvested it on the Sabbath. Now it’s October and I have the largest crop in the valley.”

The editor printed his letter and simply added one sentence: “God does not settle all of His accounts in October.”

It might seem as if the ungodly and the wicked prosper and grow, and that all goes well for them—even if they thumb their noses at God and directly defy His commandments.

Asaph wrote the 73^rd Psalm, which is a classic example in the Bible of dealing with this issue. He is grieved and deeply troubled by the haughty boastfulness of the ungodly, until he remembers their end: “Surely you have set them in slippery places; You have brought them down to ruin” (v.18).

We can trust God to make all wrongs right. We can wait upon Him to bring justice to His children. All accounts will be settled, whether it is in this life or the next. Indeed, He does not settle accounts in October.

Question to ponder:
Is there a situation in your life where you are waiting for God’s justice?

Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.

— Isaiah 40:28

Your God Is Too Small proclaimed the title of a book some years ago by J. B. Phillips. I am sure that many would say, “Now just a minute. That may be true of some, but I worship the great triune Jehovah who is infinite in His wisdom, being, and power.” That is all very good in theory. It makes great theology, but how about in practice?

Is it not true that many Christians go about their daily lives as if they worshiped an emaciated midget? Their chief concern seems to be not to overtax His strength and bring about a complete physical breakdown. They pray something like this: “O God, if it is not too much trouble, if you can handle this, if this is not too much to ask, would you please grant this little request?”

Maybe their God is not small in size but instead small in heart. He is some sort of a withered, shriveled miser. They anxiously pray: “O God, I know I have bugged you often before, but just one more little favor if you don’t mind too much?”

We are told to come boldly before His throne. We are His dear children, and He delights in helping and in giving.

Question to ponder:
What big and difficult request do you have for God?

He is the brightness of His glory, the express image of Himself…

— Hebrews 1:3

Many people want to know what God is like. He is like Jesus, for Jesus is like God. Jesus is God. And what was Jesus like? Is He concerned for you? He said, “Suffer the little children to come unto me.” He took them up in His arms and He blessed them.

You say you feel unworthy. Jesus reached out His hands and touched the leper and made him clean. You say, “I feel guilty, I have sinned.” So had the woman taken in the very act of adultery, as recorded in John 8. But Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more.”

This is what God is like, yet only in part, because from these same gracious lips we also hear such words as: “I never knew you. Depart from Me, you who practice evil” (Matthew 7:23): “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!” (Matthew 23:14); “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! … And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be thrust down to hell” (Luke 10:13, 15).

The three cities upon which Christ pronounced His woes have disappeared into black, charred remains. All other cities where Christ ministered and did not pronounce His woes have remained until this day.

God is both loving and gracious but He is also holy and just, and we do not know God apart from Jesus Christ.

Question to ponder:
What attributes of God do we also find in Jesus Christ?

Look! I am making all things new.

— Revelation 21:5

Have you noticed that nothing stays new in our world? A new house, a new car, a new pair of pants—it doesn’t take long before they become old, broken, and worn out.

Jesus Christ came to take things that were old, dying, and dead and make them new. Is it any wonder, then, that those who are to be a part of the new kingdom of this great King who makes things new must be “new creatures”?

From the very moment He was born of a virgin, until He was laid in a new tomb, He constantly made things new, even up until now, and will continue to do so through that great climactic day when He says, “Look! I am making all things new” (Revelation 21:5a). That is the very essence of Jesus Christ.

The message of Jesus is Good News. He has established a new kingdom into which He introduces only new men who are new creatures—a kingdom which is entered by a new and living way, a kingdom which has new laws, new customs, new riches, a new charter, and a new King as well as new citizens.

Question to ponder:
How does our glorious future of “newness” start already here on earth?

Remember therefore from where you have fallen. Repent, and do the works you did at first, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your candlestick from its place, unless you repent.

— Revelation 2:5

The letters to the seven churches in the first three chapters of Revelation tell us what Jesus thinks of the church. Because of the sin of certain members of the church, God said he would take away their lampstands.

I have been to many of the places mentioned in this passage and those churches are no longer there. I wonder how many there are in church who, in secret sin, are impeding the progress of the church in the world.

I think back many years ago and recall a man in my own church who was engaged in adultery—a man who had been a minister and had left the ministry, but a man who seemed to be a godly man, a man who seemed to be a Christian. Only God knows the heart.

He became involved with a married woman. He was going to have her divorce her husband and marry him. I admonished him and urged him to repent. He was brought before the discipline committee and they admonished him to repent. He was suspended from the sacraments, but he did not repent. Finally, the Session (the governing body of our church) determined that since he remained impenitent, they would have to excommunicate this man from the church. Just before that took place, suddenly that young man died.

God sees all, and we should not take His mercy for granted.

Question to ponder:
What is the difference between living with open unconfessed sin and falling into sin?

They took from the things dedicated for destruction. They have stolen, acted deceitfully, and put them among their own possessions. Therefore the children of Israel cannot stand before their enemies.

— Joshua 7:11-12

Israel’s defeat at Ai in Joshua 7 reminds us that one of the reasons the army of God is oft defeated and does not make the progress it should is because of sin within. In this case it was Achan who, having gone into the city of Jericho to help destroy it, saw there a beautiful Babylonian garment, two hundred shekels of silver, and a gold bar. He wrapped them up and put them under his robe and hastened back to his tent. He buried them in the earth in the center of the tent and no doubt put a carpet over it, cleaned it all up nicely, and nobody was the wiser. He had committed the perfect crime—except that the all-seeing God knew it was there.

Unhappily, the 3,000 men who made their way up the hill toward Ai did not know what Achan had done and suffered defeat as a consequence.

Why does the Church not make the progress it ought to be making? Could it be because of sin in the camp? Maybe you subscribe to it on television, or maybe it’s a magazine that comes every month into your home. It is that which He has forbidden and lies buried right in the center of your tent. God knows all about it and so the people of God are defeated.

Question to ponder:
Is there anything in your house which God wants you to get rid of?

To the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen.

— Jude 24-25

Have you ever walked into a great cathedral and been overwhelmed by the glory and majesty of God? Have you felt His beauty and power in the lofty arches and in the stained glass windows? These mighty buildings were made to the glory of Jesus Christ, and they are among the finest examples of art in the history of the world.

No doubt you have heard of Sir Christopher Wren, who was perhaps the greatest architect who ever lived. He designed many marvelous buildings, including St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. He was a devout Christian who was concerned about the honor and glory of God. Not only did he design St. Paul’s Cathedral, but he superintended the building of it. Wren had a sign placed in a number of different locations on the construction site that read: “Due to the heinous custom of laborers to take the name of God in vain, each person is hereby placed on notice that it shall be sufficient cause for immediate dismissal if the name of God is heard taken in vain in this place.”

May we live with such a zeal for the glory of God’s name.

Question to ponder:
How can you glorify God in your life today?