Faithful Chick's verses today are ones that hit a little too close to home for many of us:
All who make idols are nothing and the things they treasure are worthless. Those who speak up for them are blind; they are ignorant, to their own shame. Who shapes a god and casts an idol, which can profit him nothing? He and his kind will be put to shame…. (Isaiah 44:9-11)
I know that I am guilty of casting idols. It is so easy to let something, that in moderation wouldn't be a problem, become higher on my priority list than God. My children, who were entrusted to me by God, many times take up more of my thought life than God Himself does. I spend too much time thinking about how to decorate my home than how to decorate my life with those things that would please Him.
When the Israelites cast their own idol, the golden calf, God was angry enough to destroy them. Moses, however, asked God to spare them, and He agreed. Moses then got rid of the idol : "And he took the calf they had made and burned it in the fire; then he ground it to powder, scattered it on the water and made the Israelites drink it." (Exodus 32:20). Whew! God surely doesn't want me to do this to those things in my life that I've made idols, but surely He doesn't want me to keep them as idols, either.
The first part of the famous Shema contains, I think, the antidote to making idols: "Hear, O Israel: The Lord Our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength." (Deuteronomy 6:4-5). If we love God with all our heart, there won't be room for other people or things to take the place of Him in our hearts.
This solution sounds good, but it's easier said than done. Just how do we love God with all our hearts? He is so awesome, so good, so merciful, that the more we know about Him, the more we'll love Him. We must immerse ourselves in the Word to learn more about God and His faithfulness. We must reflect on our lives to see how God has interceded for us when we didn't even realize it. We must surround ourselves with others' stories of how God has worked in their lives. We should play praise music to remind us of God's greatness.
You do not have to worry about my singing on American Idol any time soon, but I'd like to be able to belt out the lyrics to an old song by the Teddy Bears. I think you're safe, though, just featuring the lyrics on my blog: "To know, know, know [H]im is to love, love, love Him . . . and I do."
6 comments:
*Hugs* Wonderful post...It's an excellent verse and I think it does hit closer to home than many of us are comfortable with but the great joy and comfort is that God wants us to have joy and happiness and growth but part of that is by learning where we are weak and need to be prune so we can be able to attest to His Glory.
Thanks for participating this week. Love your post....good points.
God bless,
faithful chick
Great post!!
I loved this truth right here...
"We must immerse ourselves in the Word to learn more about God and His faithfulness."
Beautiful~thanks for sharing this!
Great post, a very conficting topic! Have a great week.
Jen
This was a powerful verse. I had to think on it all day. Loved your response. I finally was able to get your blog up.
It is so easy to read the Bible and think "How could they do such a thing?" and forget the idols that we put between us and God everyday.... my children, my husband, my house, homeschool, "me time", money, security... I could go on and on. Thanks for the reminder :-)
Blessings
Rachel
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