Those Dumb Idol Worshipers...

Sometimes when I read the Old Testament, I think to myself: Those Israelites are so dumb. Every time they are doing well and are under the Lord's blessing, they go and ruin it for themselves by turning to false gods. Then things go badly for them, they get enslaved by a group of their enemies, they turn back to God, and He forgives them and sets them free again. Then a few years later, they do the exact same thing all over again. This happens dozens of times. I can't figure out why they don't seem to remember what happened the last time they turned to idolatry. Dumb.

Often God will give little insights into your own life through the lives of the people in the Bible. This little one comes like a smack in the face. [This is the original meaning of "Godsmack."] When God became angry because the people were worshiping false gods, I thank the Lord that I am not even tempted to worship Muhammad or Buddha. But I never stop to think about the gods called television, success, music, money, or Facebook. In God's eyes, do you think it makes a difference if we are worshiping the statue of the fat guy made out of metal or the flat screen on our living room wall? What is the one thing you love the most? If it isn't God by a landslide, there's probably an idol problem somewhere. Where are your thoughts during the day? If you've got free time, where does it end up going? 

I realize that I struggle with idolatry a lot more than I thought. I'm not saying that in order to live a godly life, we have to love God's blessings less. We should focus instead on loving God more.

Continual Revelation

Distance. Distance from God. This is the reason I wanted to make this blog. I wanted to make sure the distance never increased, but only decreased.  Revelation about God comes from only from God and from being in His presence. It is not enough to read books about Him or even His Word. My heart and mind must be softened to Him. I could read a thousand books by the most esteemed Christian scholars and preachers, but if my heart was hardened to Him it wouldn't do one lick of good. However, revelation is a side effect of God's presence.

So the idea behind the blog was that my relationship with the Lord would be on display for any (including myself) to see. When I am drifting or not setting apart the time to love Him and get closer to Him, it would be apparent. While I have been away from this blog for many months, I have recently become highly dissatisfied with my personal walk with the Lord and wish to try to make this my "accountability partner" once again. It should not be mandatory that I post daily, but at least every week I should have one or two posts about what the Lord is speaking to me if I am truly listening. God is always speaking. We are rarely listening.

Jeremiah 29:13-14 - "And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you," says the Lord.


Jeremiah 33:3 - "Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know."

Are you seeking God with your whole heart? His Word says you'll find Him if you are. Set aside time today to chase Him with everything you've got. It doesn't matter if you don't have an hour. If you only have ten minutes to spare, give Him ten uninterrupted minutes. See if He won't speak to your heart.