Thankfully, the only time God sanctioned child sacrifice was the sacrifice of his OWN son, Jesus Christ. With his sacrifice on the cross, Jesus restored the relationship between God and his people, turning away God's wrath, and turning the people back to God. The tearing of the curtain in the Holy of Holies at Jesus' death, signified the willingness of God to live with his people again, this time not in a building made of human hands, but in the hearts of disciples. And with Jesus' resurrection on the third day, disciples are kept looking forward to the eternal future with God, rather than backward at the disobedient life they leave behind.
In our baptism into Jesus' death and resurrection, the Holy Spirit sanctifies the temple of our hearts from our previous abominations. We are given a clean slate, AND, we are given the Holy Spirit as our guide, to enable us to see the LOVE BEHIND the rules. No longer do we approach the commandments from the perspective of “Dad says so!” We see the commandments as the best way to live, the way to thrive, the way that ensures that it may be well with us. We don't come home on time out of fear of dad's punishment for missing curfew, we come home on time because we know what we are like when we don't get enough sleep, and we have important things to do! As Paul writes to the church in Galatia, “the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came.” But now that Christ has come, our discipline has been replaced by DISCIPLE-IN.
Heavenly Father, we have no wish to have other gods before you, purge from us any desire for idolatry. Guide us by your Holy Spirit, that we may look forward to eternal life with you, in Jesus' name, amen.