Read His Words Before Ours!
Exodus 20:1-17
Deuteronomy 4:15-24
Judges 17:5-12
Hosea 2:14-23
Matthew 22:34-40
Relentless, Day 15
“Do not have other gods besides me.
Do not make an idol for yourself,
whether in the shape of anything in the heavens above
or on the earth below or in the waters under the earth.”
(Exodus 20:3-4)
Consider this your “real talk” alert, Loves.
We’re diving deep, and quick.
Scripture shows us the Lord created mankind for the express purpose of relationship with Him. We were designed to have fellowship with our Maker and to worship Him only. When Adam and Eve sinned by placing their desire for knowledge over their trust in God (as He knew they would), the Lord was forced to banish them from the garden of Eden. He is incapable of contradicting Himself, and when sin separated Adam and Eve from Him, the next phase of His plan was set into motion.
When God raised up Moses to lead Israel out of Egypt, the Lord used him to deliver His Law in the form of the ten commandments. These laws were important, but not for the reason you might think. Here’s where many of us (both historically and currently) miss the mark, right along with the Israelites: The ten commandments were the original outline of the Lord’s laws, but the intent behind them was to illustrate that no mere man or woman could ever uphold them. These commandments were not designed to give God’s people a list of rules to follow so they could make themselves holy before Him. They were created to show the Israelites they could not possibly save themselves…
and to highlight their overwhelming, inescapable need for a Savior.
However, when they embraced the ten commandments God dictated to Moses, God’s chosen people missed the mark. Rather than recognizing they would never be able to fulfill the Law, they became so focused on the doing, they failed to focus on the Doer. Instead, they placed their trust in themselves, elevating their own self-righteousness over the Righteous One. In doing so, they effectively broke God’s Law by elevating the Law above the Lord, and by placing their ability to uphold His commands above relationship with Him…
which created an idol in their hearts.
The account of Micah and the Levite in the book of Judges shows the danger of what can happen when we allow other things to take God’s rightful place in our lives.
Both of them fell short by doing what felt right to them.
Micah adopted a custom of idol worship; it is clear his heart did not belong to the Lord. The Levite was passing through when Micah stopped him, and regardless of what he knew to be right, he accepted Micah’s offer for money, shelter and food in exchange for effectively endorsing and joining Micah in sin by being his household “priest.” Each man exhibited idolatrous behavior. Micah’s was evidenced by his worship of graven images, while the Levite’s was exhibited by placing provisions and shelter above obeying the Lord.
Sometimes it’s hard to relate to Scriptural accounts like the one we just worked through. You may not find yourself around many graven images or physical idols.
I know I don’t.
But friend, if we are stuck on the physical representation of an idol,
we are missing the message here.
If we’re being honest with ourselves, every one of us can think of a time when we have placed something, someone, or some desire above our personal relationship with the Lord.
We talk about our struggle to squeeze in quiet time with the Lord.
We are so busy we can’t carve out time to read and study His Word, pray, or worship Him.
But we seem to have no problem finding time to do other things that matter to us.
Can we be real here?
Can we ask ourselves a few questions, and can we answer honestly?
What matters to me so much that I make sure it happens or takes precedence over everything else, no matter what?
What am I placing above the Lord?
What am I failing to yield to Him?
Whatever that thing is, whether it is:
our spouse,
our children,
our relationship status,
our financial security,
our career,
our self,
our image,
our future,
our comfort,
our entertainment,
or any other thing,
if we elevate it above our relationship with God by giving it more time, attention, thought, pursuit, or desire than we give to the Lord,
we
have
made
it
our
idol.
Woo. My heart. Conviction.
But the truth is the conviction that stirs us in this moment means nothing if we do not respond in obedience to what the Lord is revealing.
We must also obey Him.
We must turn toward God, and away from our everyday idols.
When we do this, and ask for His holy help,
we can rest assured that He Who is faithful will forgive us! (1 John 1:9)
Lord, I come to You today, convicted of my sin.
I repent of making ________________ an idol in my life.
Jesus, You are my only King forever.
Take Your rightful place as the ruler of my soul, spirit and body, and help me to walk in step with Your commands. Forgive me for worshiping anything but You with my time, attention, heart, money, body, or any part of my life.
You are the only One worthy of my worship.
Thank You for the new work You are doing in me starting now!
I yield every part of my life to You today.
In Jesus’ Name, amen.
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