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“You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.”

Exodus 20:4, LSB

Idols were common in the ancient world and still exist today. Carving an image of an animal or a person to place on an altar and worship was a way to make the intangible more tangible. Today, we may see these as totems or totem poles in the United States, but they can also be shrines dedicated to the image, to which people come to burn candles. It doesn’t mean you can’t have an image that represents Jesus as long as that image doesn’t become something you worship. It is just a piece of art with no special power. The crosses many of us wear around our necks or on our bodies are also just symbols. They are simply reminders of who we worship and what we believe. When we begin to associate these things beyond being symbols or something that will bring us luck or give us an edge, they become something dangerous, and God reminds us not to place any power in them, but remember that He is the one with all the power, and He is the one who will lead us into His peace.

Let us pray. I thank you, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, your dear Son, that you have kept me this night from all harm and danger, and I ask you to protect me this day also from sin and every evil, that in all I do today, I may please you. For into your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all that is mine. Let your holy angel watch over me, that the wicked foe have no power over me. Amen.