Devotional Thought of the Day:
³  “You must not have any other god but me. ⁴  “You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. ⁵  You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. Exodus 20:3-5 (NLT)

Arrogance, the ontological lie by which man makes himself God, is overcome by the humility of God, who makes himself the slave, who bows down before us. The man who wants to come close to God must be able to look upon him—that is essential. But he must likewise learn to bend, for God has bent himself down. In the gesture of humble love, in the washing of feet, in which he kneels at our feet—that is where we find him.

Scripture tells us that we were created in the image of God, and it tells us that we are to imitate Him.  (1 Cor 11:1)  It tells us we are transformed into His image ( Romans 12, 2 Cor. 3)

I think somehow we have twisted this, instead of reflecting God’s image to the world, we reflect our image into what we see as God. We are more subtle than the ancients who created their idols of brass and gold, from wood and stone.  Instead, the image we create serves our vanity, it serves our desires, our will.

Will the image of God we see look like us?  And if so, will it be the image of one who kneels, who washes feet, who cares for the poor, who welcomes the alien, the sick, the prisoner?   Will we, who want encounter God be willing to encounter and look like the one who was bruised and broken for others?

Is our the glory that we see in God the glory of His love for us, as His suffering brings us healing and wholeness?  Or do we want to see Him perfect, unmarred, triumphant, unbreakable?

We need to see the Lord who washes our feet, who bandages our wounds, who is broken and marred and crucified, for us.  Are we willing to be patient, so that person doesn’t perish, so that person can be transformed into God’s image as well?  We need to mee the God who is broken for us…for only there can we meet Him.

And for those of us who preach and teach about Jesus, what image of Him do we portray for people to imitate?

The God who loves us enough to bow down before us, or some other god..

Lord Jesus, help us to see your love, as you wash and heal us, serve us…and as you make us whole, help us to be there for others.  AMEN!

Question to think through:   How do you picture God?  How does that affect your interactions with others?

Ratzinger, Joseph. The Spirit of the Liturgy. Trans. John Saward. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2000. Print.