Joshua 24: 15
If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.
Truth be told, you are going to serve some God. It might be the money God, the workaholic God, or recreation God. You may serve manna but there are so many things which capture our devotion. An idol is anything you put before God. What do you think about? What are you passionate about? It is great to be passionate about life, but it is easy to let those things supplant God.
We may not build an idol to the things that we serve but if you look around, I think you will find that sometimes we do. We just don’t acknowledge it; don’t recognize it. Most of us don’t bow down to a shrine and worship it but watch us on game day. We’ve got on our team colors, drinking from our logo cup and are glued to our televisions. We are very invested emotionally in the outcome of the game and hang on every minute.
Other people put their jobs or careers on the throne of their lives. Truly, it can be anything. We just have to take a step back to make sure we aren’t making those things more important in our lives than our Heavenly Father. This verse warns us that we may become as the people of the world if we aren’t mindful. We could be serving the gods of the Amorites, or whatever “ite” is out there if we don’t decide to make Yahweh the highest priority of our life.
It’s easy to slip into life according to the world but take a bit of time to realign yourself just like you have to occasionally realign the tires on your car. This isn’t a reason for guilt, just an opportunity for a check-up to see if anything has pushed its way into God’s space. Living to God is what satisfies our souls and spirits. All the other things are fun, but just substitutes. Cling to the Real.
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