[So I made a mistake last week, and cut off the final two questions of Lord's Day 34; on the principle that two wrongs sometimes make a right, I've inserted them here. The result is that today covers the first two commandments, rather than just the second.

Heidelberg's exposition of the Ten Commandments is incredibly clear and helpful, not just because it shows how they should be applied in our lives today, but because it demonstrates how what Jesus and the apostles said is true: "love God and love your neighbour" really does sum up the whole Law. The first, the Catechism says, is given "that I rightly know the only true God, trust him alone, and look to God for every good thing," and a call to "give up anything rather than go against God's will in any way." The second rules out images of God, partly because "God can not and may not be visibly portrayed in any way" (a negative reason), but partly also for a positive reason: "God wants the Christian community instructed by the living preaching of his Word." And in between these comments is a definition of idolatry that helps with apologetics and evangelism as much as with pastoral ministry: "Idolatry is having or inventing something in which one trusts in place of or alongside of the only true God." Gold dust.]