I’ve been thinking about doing short posts about the ten commandments. Here’s the first one, dealing with “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me”.
I will quote Luther in his Large Catechism:
“To rephrase this: ‘You are to regard Me alone as your God.’ What does that mean? How is one to understand it? What is it to have a god? Or, what is one’s god?
Answer: To whatever we look for any good thing and for refuge in every need, that is what is meant by “god.” To have a god is nothing else than to trust and believe in him from the heart. As I have often said, it is the trust and faith of the heart, nothing else, that make both God and an idol. If your faith and confidence are of the right kind, then your God is the true God. If, on the other hand, your trust is false, if it is misdirected, then you do no have the true God. For these two, faith and God, belong together. To whatver you give your heart and entrust your being, that, I say, is really your God.”
Luther goes on, but I will stop here for now. Maybe tomorrow I will continue it. If not, check it out for yourself if you are so inclined. It is well worth it.
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