Idolatry

Earlier this year, the church I attend launched a “read your Bible in 90 days” program. To help the membership achieve the goal of reading the whole Bible from cover to cover in 90 days, the church ordered a number of copies of a “90 Day Bible”. This was essentially the Reader’s Guide or Cliff Notes version of the Bible. The information was all there; it was just in a condensed format.

I decided I would try to read the Bible cover to cover as well, but I was going to try to read the real thing. This has been a challenge because the 90 days were up…probably 90 days ago, I guess…and I still have a long way to go.

In any case, I have just finished reading 1st and 2nd Samuel and 1st and 2nd Kings, and I’m just blown away, particularly by the two books of Kings. For those of you who haven’t read — or haven’t recently read — 1st and 2nd Kings, here is the condensed version: after the reign of Solomon, Israel and Judah split. The two factions battled each other trying to reunite Israel. Both sides were led by a number of kings who strayed from the commands of God, doing evil in the sight of the Lord, worshiping idols and leading the people astray. While there were kings such as Asa and Josiah who followed the commands of God, they were by far the minority.

As I read chapter after chapter in 1st and 2nd Kings, I could not believe how king after king kept chasing after idols. These were Israelite kings! Their fathers had seen and talked with God! The prophets like Elijah and Elisha lived during the reign of many of these kings, and kept warning the kings about their evil ways, but still the kings built temples to Baal and Molech, built golden calves to worship and built Asherah poles to honour the “gods” of the nations around Israel. How could the leaders of God’s chosen people, the descendants of the people who had seen the pillar of smoke by day and the pillar of fire by night, the people who had seen manna fall from the heavens, the people who had seen the Red Sea parted, how could these people worship idols?

Then it hit me. Are we today any less the descendants of Israel? Is not the church today the chosen people of God? It was only two thousand years ago that Jesus fed the four thousand, that He turned water into wine, that He died on the cross and that three days later, He rose again forever crushing death’s head under His heel. How many of us have actually felt God’s presence in our lives, but still get caught by sin?

Anything that pulls us away from God is an idol in our lives. If we choose alcohol over God, we have an idol in our life. If we choose marijuana over God, we have an idol in our life. If we choose to work overtime to get a promotion rather than answer God’s call to ministry, we have an idol in our life. If we choose unrighteous web sites on the Internet over God, we have an idol in our life. Here is an example of the charges against the kings of Israel in 2nd Kings: He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, following the detestable practices of the nations the LORD had driven out before the Israelites…He did much evil in the eyes of the LORD, provoking him to anger.

Can the same be said of us today? If it can, I would urge you to reexamine the things that are important to you. As it is written in Matthew 6, Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. God is patient, loving and kind, but He *cannot* tolerate unrepented sin. We have one chance — this life — to make the choices that will determine our eternity. I pray that anyone reading my posts on this site would choose eternity with God over a little, temporary pleasure on earth.