Idolatry and the Choices We Make in Life
What Is It That We Truly Value and How Does That Witness to Our Love of Christ?
Howdy.
Hunger and thirst are human realities that far too many people deal with on a daily basis. Not knowing where you are going to get your next meal from, or if the well is providing water today, and if that water is good for you are questions those of us who live in the Twenty-first century in the United States are rarely have to deal with. Sometimes I think our opulence makes us weak, and ungrateful for the work that it took to gain us these blessings. Our culture stands on the shoulders of generations of men and women who toiled long and hard to give us houses to live in, land to plow, and an inheritance to receive. We would be wise to take stock of these gifts and honor them with our own labors as to take care that these mercies are available to those who come after us.
That itself is a biblical impulse. The Psalmist tells us to be in prayer for our children’s, children’s, children so that they might know the Lord. On other hand the commandments of God warn us that when the people would sin grievously against the covenant that the judgment would fall three or four generations down the line. The question though is why if people knew that did they continue to not listen to the prophets or to what Jehovah had revealed before in the countenance of the word? Simple answer is because while the Lord had said it, they didn’t listen. The truth was out there, but they did not want to do what was needed to embrace the testimony and make it their own, to let the word of God dwell richly in their heart. But again, why? It’s not enough to just say they didn’t want to, while true, it’s not sufficient to really define for us the reason. At the end of the day it goes back to what I opened today’s prayer and worship help with it is that we do not hunger for it. We do not desire it, so it makes it easy for us to just toss it to the side, not do what we can to come and be fed with the Holy Scriptures.
In the sermon last Sunday I quoted from Hosea 4:6 which says, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.” As I brought a word from Acts 17 I made the point that the citizens of Athens were idolaters. It wasn’t that they didn’t know about Jehovah, or didn’t believe in God, it was that they were worshiping false gods. They served man-made idols of wood and stone which had no power to do anything for them other than make them tired in the making. At best you might get a splinter, but you assuredly won’t get saved.
When we consider afresh the desires of our heart, we need to ask ourselves a simple question. Do I love Jesus, or do I love things about Jesus? A quick way to figure that out is to apply what I call the Luke 9 test. Do I need to do something before I follow Him, before I worship Him with my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ? Do I need to plow the field, do I need to hunt that animal, do I need to go to that sporting event, do I need to work, do I need to chill, do I need to find time for myself, etc... and place your own idol in the box. If the answer is yes to any of those questions, then you have your answer. If there is anything that is first choice before Christ that’s what the Bible calls a violation of the First Commandment. It is something the Israelites could never figure out. You can’t have your Ba’al and your God as well. A man cannot serve two masters. That’s not to say going to sporting events or hunting or work or whatever is inherently bad. We aren’t Gnostics or Amish. It is about the order and importance of things. Are we willing to miss or forsake any of those types of things in order to walk after the Savior of mankind or are we not? For one who recognizes the benefits of Christ it should not be that difficult of a decision. If it is, then you have your reward, and if you want to break that bond then break that idol. Be done with it if it controls your devotional and worship life. It is better to go into the heavenly city missing an arm or a leg than to have both as you descend into Hell.
Sometimes you will hear people (false prophets) say that for me to make that dichotomy is legalism. Or they will tell you that you shouldn’t ever feel like Jesus is against the stuff you like to do. In other words God is not there to keep you from joy and personal happiness, and they are right. He’s not. Their problem comes when they determine that things like worship, fellowship, and bible study are not only worth missing, but are unnecessary as long as you get some kind of religious stuff along the way. Hearing a podcast, reading a verse, saying a prayer at the red light, whatever it might take to click the Christian button for the day. However, Jesus don’t play like that. His call is to deny ourselves, pick up our cross, and go with Him to the place where true glory and pure joy lies. If you can’t do that, then there is a serious spiritual problem that must be dealt with if you have hope of seeing the sun and the Son on the day of judgment, and not the other stuff on that fateful day.
In closing, to go back to the hunger and thirst metaphor that’s really what it is all about. If you do not hunger and thirst after the things of God like a dog with a bone or a weary traveler at an oasis then you need to be praying that the Lord would awaken in your soul that desire. Seek spiritual counsel in the Scriptures and ask the Holy Spirit for unction and help. It should never be a burden to be with the Lord’s people on the Lord’s Day, or in the Lord’s Church. Like a festival day should be the Sabbath and the other times of fellowship. A feast, a blessing, and encouragements in joy like no other thing can be.
Last word:
https://learn.ligonier.org/articles/do-you-hunger-and-thirst-righteousness
Blessings in Christ,
Rev. Benjamin Glaser
Pastor, Bethany ARP Church