The Golden Calf and Moses breaking the tablets.

“So I turned and went down from the mountain while it was ablaze with fire. And the two tablets of the covenant were in my hands. When I looked, I saw that you had sinned against the Lord your God; you had made for yourselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. You had turned aside quickly from the way that the Lord had commanded you. So I took the two tablets and threw them out of my hands, breaking them to pieces before your eyes.” – Deuteronomy 9:15-17

In a fit of rage, Moses threw the stone tablets on the ground. And for good reason, in just forty days his people turned their back on God and worshiped an idol. But truth be told, Moses was a bit of a hot head. While his anger was valid, we still have to ask if breaking the tablets (formed by God) was necessary. And I suppose we could ask the same question of ourselves. How often do we toss gifts from God aside because of “valid” anger? Maybe it was a material blessing, or more importantly a person that God has placed in our care. In either case, and like Moses, sin that was realized causes us to “shatter and break” the gift. Separating ourselves from their sinful nature and (like the tablets) breaking what was put in our care. As we saw from Moses, it can be easy to let our valid anger get the best of us. Today, the prayer is for us to have the eyes of Christ Jesus and for us all to see others how He sees them. Most of all recognize the incredible gifts God has entrusted to us. So the big takeaway is this, be angry when it is valid to do so. Hold other believers around you accountable. But don’t break the “tablets” that God put in your hands.