Can I pray for you in any
way? Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com.
In Christ, Mark
In Christ, Mark
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
** Follow The Christian
Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk
** Like posts and send friend
requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn
** Become a Follower of
The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
“This is what the Lord says to His
anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of. This is what the Lord
says: The products of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush, and those tall
Sabeans—they will come over to you and will be yours; they will trudge behind
you, coming over to you in chains. They will bow down before you and plead with
you, saying, ‘Surely God is with you, and there is no other; there is no other
god.’”
Truly You are a God who has been
hiding himself, the God and Savior of Israel. All the makers of idols will be
put to shame and disgraced; they will go off into disgrace together. For this
is what the Lord says—
He who created the heavens, He is God; He who fashioned and made the earth, He founded it; He did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited—He says: “I am the Lord, and there is no other.”
He who created the heavens, He is God; He who fashioned and made the earth, He founded it; He did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited—He says: “I am the Lord, and there is no other.”
Isaiah 45:1a,
14-16, 18
This ends this
reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
This world certainly offers us
plenty of things to worship.
People seem to be obsessed in their
quest for money and sometimes are willing to do almost anything to get it, even
if it means doing something illegal. Those who have loads of money seem to be
revered because of it, elevated above the masses who struggle to make ends
meet.
Speaking of putting people up on a
pedestal and adoring them, just look at actors and actresses in television and
movies, musical stars whether musicians or singers, models, or professional
athletes. The root word of fanatic is fan and so many people have a near
obsession with those who achieve fame, idolizing them in many instances. We
even have talent competitions where people strive to perform using their
talents to find their way to fame. What name does the show have? American Idol,
of course.
And then there is our work and the incessant
drive to find success, even if it means discrediting a co-worker or neglecting
our families by laboring countless hours to try and set us apart from the
competition. We seem to be less and less satisfied with what we have and more
interested in achieving more and more, a hunger that is never satisfied.
Yes, idol worshiping is alive and
well today. We may not construct graven images or altars to worship falsely like
the Israelites in biblical times but there are plenty of other present day
options that seek to draw us away from the only One who deserves our devotion
and adulation, the Lord God Almighty.
As we have seen over the last
twelve devotions, the Lord has much to say to us in the 45th chapter of Isaiah.
He has spoken on a number of matters and as you may imagine, He has something
to say about the matter of idol worshiping. Look at His words again here:
“All the makers of idols will be put to shame and disgraced; they will
go off into disgrace together.”
The warning is clear. Make an idol
and you will be put to shame and disgraced by the Lord. This goes for anyone
who lifts up an idol for someone to worship but it equally applies to anyone
who takes something and reveres it, essentially making that object an idol in
their eyes.
In the end translation, there are
to be no other gods before the one and only God, the Maker and Creator of the
heavens and earth and everything therein. He is God period and:
He and He alone is to be honored.
He and He alone is to me magnified
and glorified.
He and He alone is to be worshipped
and praised.
Do otherwise and you will face the
Lord’s judgment. That’s what the Lord says.
Amen.
In
Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
No comments:
Post a Comment