The Small Catechism – part 39
Scripture Text: Psalm 139:19–24
It is easy to notice the faults of others. For example, you will hear God’s name used wrongly—whether as an outright expletive or by swearing by it to gain another’s trust.
Sola Devotions Posted in October 2025
The Small Catechism – part 38
Scripture Text: Acts 17:29–30
“God told me.” When people say this, they are taking the Lord’s name in vain. They say, “God told me to do this,” so that no one will be able to disagree with them.
The Small Catechism – part 37
Scripture Text: Luke 10:27
So, we see that taking the Lord’s name vainly does not only break the Second Commandment; it also breaks the First Commandment. For taking the Lord’s name in vain demonstrates a lack of fear, love, and trust in God above all things.
The Small Catechism – part 36
Scripture Text: Matthew 6:31–33
Why does one need to lie or otherwise deceive in order to receive some necessary thing? God knows what you need, so ask your heavenly Father, and he will provide the needs of the day.
The Small Catechism – part 35
Scripture Text: Romans 12:14
The Second Commandment deals with far more than using a specific word or words. If you are a Christian, then all you say and do is said and done in the name of God.
The Small Catechism – part 34
Scripture Text: Matthew 5:33–37
Too much talk can lead to grand statements, to bragging backed up with oaths. Be content with silence, for the whisper of God may be heard there.
The Small Catechism – part 33
Scripture Text: Matthew 6:9
The best way to use God’s name properly is in prayer, and the best prayer is the one Jesus taught us. In the Lord’s Prayer, we pray that the Father’s name will be hallowed, or “holied.”
The Small Catechism – part 32
Scripture Text: Matthew 6:31–33
We are to use God’s name properly. Because we trust God, we may believe that he will take care of us. Therefore, we do not need to resort to deceitful practices of any sort in order to have our needs met by the Father.
The Small Catechism – part 31
Scripture Text: Exodus 20:3
There are things that people fear, love, and trust above God. People may fear illness, suffering, and death above God. The result can be slavish devotion to fitness or to doctors and medicine.
The Small Catechism – part 30
Scripture Text: Exodus 20:1–6
Keeping the Ten Commandments is not something that we must do in order to be saved. God does not forgive us because we keep the rules.
The Small Catechism – part 29
Scripture Text: Exodus 20:5–6
While the effects of sin may linger a while, the steadfast love of God endures forever. That is the idea in the idiom: “a thousand generations.” It is like saying, “a million years.”
The Small Catechism – part 28
Scripture Text: Exodus 20:5–6
The Scripture teaches us that children do not pay for the sins of their parents (Ezek 18:20). Nevertheless, they often suffer the consequences. The bad choices we make affect others.
The Small Catechism – part 27
Scripture Text: Exodus 20:5–6
The effects of sin linger. I look at my own parents’ sins every day, as so many are alive in me. I learned those sins from them but they are my sins.
The Small Catechism – part 26
Scripture Text: Exodus 20:5–6
The Hebrew word typically translated as “jealous” in Exodus 20:5 can mean zealous, passionate, even outraged—or simply protective. Luther translated it as “zealous” (eifriger) but the major English translations all read “jealous.”
The Small Catechism – part 25
Scripture Text: Exodus 20:5–6
The idea of serving idols (“or serve them”) in verse five is specific to bringing them the service of worship. The NIV translates it so.
The Small Catechism – part 24
Scripture Text: Exodus 20:5–6
Imagine that those who are made in the image of the Almighty God (Gen 1:26) would bow down to figurines of human invention. Ludicrous!
The Small Catechism – part 23
Scripture Text: Exodus 20:4
If you knew what God looked like (John 1:18; 1 John 4:12) and made an image of that likeness, would you be able to fear the image? I suppose you could, but it would be irrational to do so.
The Small Catechism – part 22
Scripture Text: Exodus 20:3
The command to have no other gods is packed with things to consider. Having another god means to own the god, as one could an idol. But we cannot own Yahweh, in that sense, unless we try to make him into an image that we would worship instead of Yahweh himself.
The Small Catechism – part 21
Scripture Text: Exodus 20:2
You may initially counter that God did not bring you out of Egypt. It was the Hebrew people whom God led out of slavery to pharaohs. They were enslaved for over four centuries in Egypt, waiting for God to send Moses to lead them out.
The Small Catechism – part 20
Scripture Text: Exodus 20:2
Exodus 20:2 does not simply say, “I am the Lord God.” It reads, “I am the Lord your God.” Without God revealing himself to the people of Israel, he may have been any deity, any one of the gods of the land.
The Small Catechism – part 19
Scripture Text: Exodus 20:2
The commandments bring God to the forefront of our hearts and minds; the actual commandments seem almost secondary. They are commanded because of the nature of God.
The Small Catechism – part 18
Scripture Text: Exodus 20:1–6
The commandments begin with a brief foreword that is the condition for the words to follow. Why should we do and not do these certain things? What is the condition for our obedience? God said so. Frankly, we need no more reason than this one precedent: God is the one who makes the command. This is not dissimilar to what we heard from our parents, or what we may have said to our own children. When
The Small Catechism – part 17
Scripture Text: 2 Corinthians 3:4–6
Gratitude from the world? Too often, it seems like there is not much gratitude even from the church. That is a reason why a minister’s sufficiency must come from God.
The Small Catechism – part 16
Scripture Text: Matthew 26:26–28
The primary task of ministers is two-fold. First, they must teach the law so that people understand they are sinners in danger of God’s judgment.
The Small Catechism – part 15
Scripture Text: John 6:53–56
We have no life in ourselves. Nevertheless, our old, inborn natures want to keep trying to live. Though drowned and buried with Christ in baptism, we must be reassured of our death.
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