Looking at the Subject, and NOT at the Symbol

[Jimmy]

A young man fell in love with a beautiful woman. He was so in love with her, he decided he would get a marble slab and scuplt a statue of her. He spent all his money and all his time and all his resources and all his energy building this statue of the woman he loved. To get it just right, he took twenty years of time and effort. When he finally finished, he went to see the woman to tell her the statue was finished. Sadly, when he found her, she had grown older and her looks had changed. She married a different man, and had made a life out of the twenty years the other man took carving her into stone. The artist was heartbroken. As he walked home, however, his attitude changed. Suddenly, he spoke;

“Hey! It’s okay! I’VE still got my STATUE!”

The man had taken his feelings for his love and had made an image of them. The man of this story is doing what all Christians do in error; he had made an image worth more to him than what it stood for. Christians do this all the time; instead of the teachings of Jesus, we make images of the Cross, of the Bible, of the Rosery, of the Communion, and of Jesus Himself “greater in importance” than our belief. I am here today to say this; that is incorrect.

This article I am writing deals with the second commandment, in which God said “thou shalt not make any graven image OF ANY KIND…”; I know you’re reading this and saying “If I am worshiping the cross, I am worshiping Jesus”. True, Jesus died on the cross, and the cross has great place in our hearts as Christians. But when we believe that the cross has greater power than our prayer or our faith, we have failed to see the point. Remember in old vampire movies when the vampire was repelled by a crucifix? Good luck getting that to work; your defense from unholy demons and cruel spirits does not lie in a cross or in a picture of Jesus; it lies in your faith in God’s Holy Protection. God sent his Son, Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Jesus died on the cross so that we may have pardon of our sins and live eternally. He did not die so that we might worship images of Him, symbols of Him, or make the iconography attached to Him greater than His love or His works. I point to the practice of a person holding a statue of the Virgin Mary or a Cross in their hands as they pray. This is “lucky charm faith”, so to speak. It’s fine to have symbols of Jesus’ love, the important thing is to make sure that you put your faith above your fortune.

I see many people in this day and age who put their Jesus Fish on their car and who have WWJD bracelets and who hang crosses on every wall of their home. Still, they don’t seem to get that just by having those things, you do not buy salvation for yourself. You only get salvation by admitting your sin, believing in Jesus Christ, confessing your sins to God Almighty, and by asking Jesus into your heart. The thought of having a magical talisman that will permit you into heaven is obsurd. Many people go out into the world, believing that the only church or house of worship they could attend was the one they attended from childhood. They will spend their lives searching for a church exactly like the one they grew up in, believing that God is only found in one such a place because they have made up their mind that God IS that church. And these people will likely be very depressed until they do touch “the green, green grass of home”.

A Church, a cross, a book, a picture, a mental image is not Jesus Christ, nor is it God. Jesus is the Savior of mankind, and God is The Alpha and the Omega. Have faith that they will aid you in your walk through life. Do not put your hope in iconography; hold a picture in higher accord than your love of Jesus Christ, and you will be worshiping canvas and paint. It’s as simple as that.

This message was delivered to me through my Pastor, Reveren Gleaton Rickenbaker. I was so moved by his message that I felt it must be shared with all of you who are regular visitors to this site. It showed me that there is no Building, no Statue, no Object that can take the place of God, even if it is of a Christian nature. The point of the entire Message Rev. Rickenbaker gave is this:

Do not Worship Holy Symbols; Worship their Holy Subject.

Yours in Christ,

Jimmy

Do not make idols of any kind, whether in the shape of birds or animals or fish. Exodus, 20:4

[Beaver]

Matthew 16:20 Then He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ.

If we do our best to be Christ like, as the Bibles says we should. We should be living an example that all can see. Others that look on us should know us by our fruits. And if our example is what it should be, we should not need a symbol of any kind to convince others of our faith. They should know us by our fruits not the symbol we carry. Let others speak highly of you. If they do not it may not be so.

[Author]

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