Reflection: First impulse; first command

When I taste something good, I don’t just savour it. I want more. And more. That’s pretty much the story with mankind. With a taste of the transcendent, we want more. Sensuous becomes sensual. Pleasure turns to greed. Worship of God becomes greed to be God. As Eugene Peterson put it, we flee the shining face of God for religion and our own glory.

Knowing our impulse for exchanging his glory for other glories, God’s number one rule was, “Don’t!” (see Exodus 20:1-4 ). There was Moses, in a heady, mountainous God-cloud collecting this very command etched by the finger of God… while his brother Aaron and God’s treasured people were at the mountain’s base, obscenely giving God the finger. They exchanged transcendence for what? A cow. To venerate this gold-crafted creature …or any art/artifact/object (no matter how beautiful), is not just foolish and futile. It’s a blatant violation of true worship: God’s number two rule, “Don’t!” God will not be mocked. Can you feel the scorch of his burning anger?

Prayer:

Cauterise my pride and consume me with your holiness, worthy God. Shape my well-intentioned worship of you as I go about the business of today. Help me compose my thoughts, decisions, words and actions like a sweet perfume to enhance your reputation and diffuse it in the world.

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Keep in mind: culture, education, life experience all shape how we respond to aesthetics. So, God orientates his people in culture and worship through the garden, the Law and the tabernacle/temple, guiding them to differentiate the holy from the unholy.