A few days ago I wrote about walking in my yard on a moonless night looking for my black lab. All the while she was invisibly walking around right behind me. Last night we had a quarter moon as I once again went out to bring her in for the night. It wasn’t long until I saw darkness following me around. Considering myself to be a quick study and not to be fooled again I headed back to the door talking to her. Then I reached back to pet her. Emptiness – it was my shadow!! My dog was still sitting in the corner of the yard watching me talk to nothingness.
It would have been saner had I been talking to myself. This time I was talking to thin air. This happens to be the reason God gave us the first commandment. “Thou shall have no other gods before me.” Since there is only one real God, placing other gods before Him would be praying to nothingness. God is trying to keep us from wasting our devotion and intellect. Praying to nothing isn’t going to get us anything.
God is so wonderfully practical. Each of His commandments has a practical application for enhancing the quality of our lives. There isn’t a selfish bone in His body. His total focus is on our wellbeing. He instantly hears all our prayers and answers not according to our requests but according to what is best for us. Often we misjudge His actions but someday He will make it all clear and we will rejoice in His wisdom and grace. He never makes mistakes. Our talking with Him is never talking to shadows.