Keep Your Life Free From the Love of Idols
Joshua 24:23-25: "He [Joshua] said, 'Then put away the foreign gods that are among you, and incline your heart to the Lord, the God of Israel.' And the people said to Joshua, 'The Lord our God we will serve, and his voice we will obey.' So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and put in place statutes and rules for them at Shechem."
We can proclaim to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, all of our soul, all of our mind, and all of our strength in church on Sunday, then find our hearts captivated by our work on Monday. All those words and intentions slowly fade away as we come back to our true loves - work, families, hobbies, social media, even ourselves. Humans are idol factories! Despite the command to worship God alone, we tend to worship God and the things of this world.
God wants us to love our work, to love our families, to love our hobbies, and to love ourselves. I am not sure what he would say about social media! Truly, he wants us to enjoy the gifts and the blessings that he has given to us. While he wants us to love and enjoy those things, he does not want us to worship those things. Good things in life can creep in and crowd out our love for God.
The nation of Israel was called to stay diligent and focused on their worship of the Lord. As they conquered people groups and acquired new land, the Lord was very clear that they were to tear down pagan altars and to burn any remnants of pagan worship. Though beautiful and covered in gold, the statues to other gods had to be burned; though seemingly innocent, the objects used in the pagan worship were to be destroyed. There was only one way to worship God and that was his way. All the pagan practices defied the Lord's instructions. To protect their idol-making and idol-worshipping hearts, the Lord gave clear commandments on how to live and worship in the promised land.
Joshua demanded that all the seemingly harmless artifacts and statues of the pagans must go. The hearts of the Israelites were to be inclined to the Lord and the Lord alone. Joshua would make the same command to us concerning the idols of our day. They must be dethroned and destroyed so that we rightfully worship the Lord, serve the Lord, and obey the Lord. Here, the Israelites responded to Joshua's command with faithfulness and obedience. May we also listen to the words of the Lord in Scripture and allow those words to challenge us so that there may be no syncretism in our lives and worship. May God alone sit on the throne of our hearts, and may we wholeheartedly worship, serve, and obey the Lord.
Reflection:
Do you see your own propensity towards idolatry? Are you willing to allow the Lord to reveal any false attachments you have so that you may wholeheartedly worship, serve, and obey him?
We can proclaim to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, all of our soul, all of our mind, and all of our strength in church on Sunday, then find our hearts captivated by our work on Monday. All those words and intentions slowly fade away as we come back to our true loves - work, families, hobbies, social media, even ourselves. Humans are idol factories! Despite the command to worship God alone, we tend to worship God and the things of this world.
God wants us to love our work, to love our families, to love our hobbies, and to love ourselves. I am not sure what he would say about social media! Truly, he wants us to enjoy the gifts and the blessings that he has given to us. While he wants us to love and enjoy those things, he does not want us to worship those things. Good things in life can creep in and crowd out our love for God.
The nation of Israel was called to stay diligent and focused on their worship of the Lord. As they conquered people groups and acquired new land, the Lord was very clear that they were to tear down pagan altars and to burn any remnants of pagan worship. Though beautiful and covered in gold, the statues to other gods had to be burned; though seemingly innocent, the objects used in the pagan worship were to be destroyed. There was only one way to worship God and that was his way. All the pagan practices defied the Lord's instructions. To protect their idol-making and idol-worshipping hearts, the Lord gave clear commandments on how to live and worship in the promised land.
Joshua demanded that all the seemingly harmless artifacts and statues of the pagans must go. The hearts of the Israelites were to be inclined to the Lord and the Lord alone. Joshua would make the same command to us concerning the idols of our day. They must be dethroned and destroyed so that we rightfully worship the Lord, serve the Lord, and obey the Lord. Here, the Israelites responded to Joshua's command with faithfulness and obedience. May we also listen to the words of the Lord in Scripture and allow those words to challenge us so that there may be no syncretism in our lives and worship. May God alone sit on the throne of our hearts, and may we wholeheartedly worship, serve, and obey the Lord.
Reflection:
Do you see your own propensity towards idolatry? Are you willing to allow the Lord to reveal any false attachments you have so that you may wholeheartedly worship, serve, and obey him?
No Comments