I decided to start this one on a poetic note. But let me save you the analysis problem and get straight to what I was aiming at; worship. I have come to this realization that we are all built to worship, one way or the other.
It is one area God gave a default setting on when he created us. Deep in our subconscious we have this worship energy that needs to be directed at something…someone…some being out there; natural or supernatural. True, part of what makes us different from animals.
So here’s the catch; what or who do we worship in this life? There must be that one thing we aim to please or reach or try to find fulfilment in. The Bible speaks of idol worship and a great forbidding of it. Something that caught my attention is the ten commandments God gave the Israelites.
In Exodus 20:3 God forbids the Israelites to have other gods before Him. That is easily understood, right? But look at Exodus 20:4 in the subsequent chapter; God also warns of Idol worship. Isn’t an Idol a god and a god an Idol? Is there a difference there?
At some point I thought Moses had been a bit hazy up there writing these instructions on the stone tablets. I mean he spent like what, 40 days alone up there? In high altitude, the sun hitting you directly all day; that can fry your brains a bit. But the eye-opener was the realization that God wrote on the stone tablets and not Moses. And one thing I know about God; He never contradicts himself.
So there is worship of a god and idol worship. I must say that in the god case, we humans would replace God totally with another god of some sort. We have people who bow to and worship other gods instead of the almighty Yahweh. People who call on to other names and not Jesus Christ for help guidance and thanksgiving. A fact we have to accept since time immemorial. But then there is idol worship.
I realize that with idol worship, you can still acknowledge the presence of God in your life. You can have both at the same time, only that you will answer to one more than the other. And here comes the bombshell, we have come to love other things more than God. Most of these things are aesthetic; they contribute to us feeling good and don’t really glorify God. And it gets sadder; we make ourselves believe that we are in line with God.
So what is your Idol in this world? Is it the latest fashion? Is it your high paying job or your super-hot wife? Are you good looking and your numbers agree financially? Plus the ladies are always fighting for your number? There must be that one thing you focus on lots of time; that one thing that took away the prayerful heart, the love of God and the will to include God in all your doing. From what I got from the movie fireproof, such Idols are what we call ‘Parasites’ and they ‘suck’ your salvation dry and take away that one thing that always keeps your life in check; worship of God.
God was clear in his word ‘Seek Him first and his Kingdom and the rest will fall in place’. We are called to get back to the heart of worship, press ‘RESTORE’ on God and ‘SHIFT-DELETE’ the idols and gods we have stacked in our hearts. If this happens for you, then everything will fall in place; you stop trying to figure out the direction of your life and let God take the wheels. See the world is fighting battles emotionally, bureaucratically, politically, financially and physically all because we took God and the worship of Him out of the picture.