Slaves to Joy – The Second Commandment

Slaves to Joy

Exodus 20:4, 5

“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God…”

We said there were two words that summarize all that God requires of us. “Bow” is the first word; “serve” is the second. We are God’s servants, pure and simple. He is not ours. He has redeemed us to put us to work for His purposes. We have been delivered from slavery to darkness, death, and sinful deeds in order that we might give ourselves, soul and body, to God’s work. We are now His bondservants, His slaves, but, oh, what a glorious and liberating enslavement this is! God does not need our service; He is quite capable of doing whatever He wants with or without us. But He gives us the high privilege and great joy of joining with Him in His great work of restoring all things to a state of beauty, goodness, and truth. We can’t serve God to these great ends if we’re dissipating all our affections and strength on lesser things.

Is it possible to serve God in your work? In your marriage? In your involvement in your community? Is it possible to do all those things without serving God? What’s the difference?

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“In the Gates” is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore

T. M. Moore is editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001,2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Editor’s note: The use of a translation other than the Authorised Version in an article does not constitute an endorsement in whole or in part by The Christian Observer.