he selects the cypress and the oak;

he plants the pine in the forest

to be nourished by the rain.

Then he uses part of the wood to make a fire.

With it he warms himself and bakes his bread.

Then—yes, it’s true—he takes the rest of it

and makes himself a god to worship!

He makes an idol

and bows down in front of it!

He burns part of the tree to roast his meat

and to keep himself warm.

He says, “Ah, that fire feels good.”

Then he takes what’s left

and makes his god: a carved idol!

He falls down in front of it,

worshiping and praying to it.

“Rescue me!” he says.

“You are my god!”

Such stupidity and ignorance!

Their eyes are closed, and they cannot see.

Their minds are shut, and they cannot think.

The person who made the idol never stops to reflect,

“Why, it’s just a block of wood!

I burned half of it for heat

and used it to bake my bread and roast my meat.

How can the rest of it be a god?

Should I bow down to worship a piece of wood?”

The poor, deluded fool feeds on ashes.

He trusts something that can’t help him at all.

Yet he cannot bring himself to ask,

“Is this idol that I’m holding in my hand a lie?”

—ISAIAH 44:13–20 (NLT)

The second commandment comes with a warning: Disobedience will visit “the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me” (Exodus 20:5).

Is that unfair—punishing children for what their parents did? The meaning is actually that the children (generations) are punished by their parents’ sin. Our failures leave a legacy. Alcoholic children often come from alcoholic parents. Materialistic parents nurture the same values in their children, intentional or not. Sin is contagious within families.

Ron Mehl adds: “God says to us, ‘The reason I’m asking you not to place any object or enterprise or image ahead of Me is because I don’t want you to wake up one day with a broken heart, as you watch your loved ones making the same mistakes you made, tripping over the same rocks you tripped over, and struggling with the same cynical attitudes that afflicted you.’ ”11

The good news is that we leave positive legacies, too. While preaching, I’ve often asked for a show of hands from those whose parents led them to Christ. Each time, more than 50 percent of our people indicate that they’re en route to heaven because of the testimony of loving parents.