Today’s Reading: Micah 5; Micah 6; Micah 7; Hebrews 7
Scripture: Micah 5:13 I will destroy your carved images
and your sacred stones from among you;
you will no longer bow down
to the work of your hands.
Observation: Idol worship seems quite stupid to me. I think most modern people regard bowing down to images of wood, or stone, or metal to be quite primitive and silly. But as I was looking at this verse, the last part seemed quite relevant to people today: "you will no longer bow down to the work of your hands." I think of what people work hard to obtain: fancy cars, impressive homes, expensive electronics, recreational toys -- this truly represents "the work of their hands." And it is a fact that people really love and even worship these things.
I have some friends with really beautiful motorcycles that they worked hard to get. They love showing off their motorcycles and in some respects, I would say they live for their motorcycles. Another phrase in this scripture is "sacred stones." I think of the fancy jewelry and diamonds that people ooh and ahh over. People live for this stuff.
I think that both of these examples could be considered "bowing down to the work of their hands."
Application: The point is this: if the things that we get with the money we earn become really important to us -- more important than our Bible reading and prayer life -- then we may have slipped into a form of idol worship. That is, worshiping the work of our own hands rather than God. After all, what is worship? Is it not the high position and regard we give to something or someone? It is demonstrated by what we think about, talk about, and spend our time on.
Bottom line: Idol worship isn't just something that affected primitive man. We can easily get into it today through materialism. It takes awareness and effort to keep ourselves from getting sucked in to a materialistic mindset. We must intentionally keep our eyes and heart focused on Jesus and the eternal Kingdom. That is our goal -- that must be our focus.
Prayer: Lord, deliver us from idol worship and materialism. Show us anything and everything that we have allowed to come between us and You. May we unhesitatingly put aside any intrusion into our intimacy with You, o Lord. Help us to fuel the greatest passion of our lives in our relationship with You, Father God.
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.
1 comment:
There is another kind of idol worship other than materialism, which is common today. Addictions, such as alcohol, drugs, or sex. These addictions really take the place of God. People go to them for comfort, to feel better about themselves or to handle the stresses of life. These are the same things we should go to God for. He is our creator and when we take any of our needs to another source besides Him, or a source He has approved (such as the Body of Christ), then we have engaged in idol worship. What's amazing to me is how many people engage in idol worship and then when their idols fail them and they're in real trouble, they turn and blame God with "Why me?" type questions. Just like the people of God in the Old Testament, they don't heed God's instructions or warnings and then get angry when their lives don't go well. People who stay close to God on the other hand, usually take trouble in stride and allow it to build their character and make them more mature. It's interesting.
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