Deuteronomy 13
Do not allow anyone to lead you astray; to tempt you to worship other gods. Sound like an easy one? It is not. Sure, we all like to say we worship only the one true God, but in all reality do we? It seems that I have been exposing false gods most of my life, with very little impact. They just keep showing up and knocking at our doors - sometimes they even get in.
It is difficult to live in this world without those false gods sneaking into our lives, often without us even knowing it. These gods may be our desire for material wealth some earned honestly, some not so honestly. But, even of that which is earned honestly, how much of it glorifies God? How much time away from serving God and neighbor has been wasted away earning money while you no longer have time to enjoy being with and serving God and family or neighbor? How much time is wasted on that false god - the television - or all those characters on it? How much time and money in the casino? Or on drinking or other means to getting high? Our addictions and compulsive behaviors and attractions are false gods. They sneak into our lives as possibly harmless diversions, ways to enjoy the company of others (maybe), to live the life that God has given us. But, the reality is that these false gods also want our full devotion and they often get it as they lead us away from living in a fuller relationship with the one true God and with our neighbors. One of the sneakiest false gods that I am aware of is ourselves. Our own egos can become our gods as we strive to please ourselves rather than God. In this age of self-help gurus, many have actually been convinced that the way to have a relationship with God is to love and be good to yourself first. When your focus in inward upon yourself, then what is the name of the god that you end up serving? Always... always... the one true God must come first. Once you know the love of God, then you will learn to love yourself. When you live in relationship with God, serving God first, then you will truly know what the blessed life is as you live in peace, reconciled to God; the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then you will be able to live in peace in and with this world.
The new year approaches. I encourage you to take an inventory of your false gods and resolve to see what you can do to get them out of your life. There is only one God and it is He whom we should be serving.
Do not allow anyone to lead you astray; to tempt you to worship other gods. Sound like an easy one? It is not. Sure, we all like to say we worship only the one true God, but in all reality do we? It seems that I have been exposing false gods most of my life, with very little impact. They just keep showing up and knocking at our doors - sometimes they even get in.
It is difficult to live in this world without those false gods sneaking into our lives, often without us even knowing it. These gods may be our desire for material wealth some earned honestly, some not so honestly. But, even of that which is earned honestly, how much of it glorifies God? How much time away from serving God and neighbor has been wasted away earning money while you no longer have time to enjoy being with and serving God and family or neighbor? How much time is wasted on that false god - the television - or all those characters on it? How much time and money in the casino? Or on drinking or other means to getting high? Our addictions and compulsive behaviors and attractions are false gods. They sneak into our lives as possibly harmless diversions, ways to enjoy the company of others (maybe), to live the life that God has given us. But, the reality is that these false gods also want our full devotion and they often get it as they lead us away from living in a fuller relationship with the one true God and with our neighbors. One of the sneakiest false gods that I am aware of is ourselves. Our own egos can become our gods as we strive to please ourselves rather than God. In this age of self-help gurus, many have actually been convinced that the way to have a relationship with God is to love and be good to yourself first. When your focus in inward upon yourself, then what is the name of the god that you end up serving? Always... always... the one true God must come first. Once you know the love of God, then you will learn to love yourself. When you live in relationship with God, serving God first, then you will truly know what the blessed life is as you live in peace, reconciled to God; the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then you will be able to live in peace in and with this world.
The new year approaches. I encourage you to take an inventory of your false gods and resolve to see what you can do to get them out of your life. There is only one God and it is He whom we should be serving.
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