I saw a cartoon somewhere picturing two Army trainees standing in front of a military chapel. On the chapel bulletin board was the sermon topic for that Sunday. It read: "The Second Commandment--Thou Shalt Not Make Any Graven Images.” One soldier said to his buddy, "Now there's a commandment I haven't broken yet."

Maybe you're thinking similar thoughts this morning. Surely we haven't worshipped any graven images lately. But let's take a closer look at what the Second Commandment means before deciding whether or not we obey it.

Whereas the First Commandment prohibits the worship of other gods, the second warns against reducing God to manageable size. It commands that we not try to limit or tame or restrict God. God Almighty must not be reduced to some kind of handy helper or good- luck charm.…