When God’s Work Becomes An Idol.

It has happened to me a couple of times. My work for God became an idol to me. It so easily happened and I didn’t even notice it had happened until something made me stop and take a look around at what I was doing. And it can happen so easily to anyone else, too.

You see, I became so involved in what I was doing that I forgot about the person that I was doing it for. Whether it was driving a bus, teaching some group or other, or whatever the reason, I had forgotten that the main reason for my doing it was to worship Jesus.

And I see it happening to others all around me also. People get involved in music ministry and they become so engrossed in the music, the sound, and the instruments that somehow the central person of their worship gets side-lined.

And it can happen to pastors, preachers, ministers, caretakers, drivers and choir singers too. They can become so engrossed in their various ministries that they forget about Jesus, and their mind becomes focused in whichever activity they are involved in. And it can happen to any one of us so easily.

There is a little account in The Book Of The Judges, in chapter 17, of a man who had forgot about God. The account happened during a time when Israel was wandering around the Land of Canaan. They had come through the deserts of Sinai into the land of Canaan and were still wandering without strong leadership. And there is a phrase which is used twice at the end of the book which reads “…In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit…”. (Judges ch17 v6, ch21 v25).

In chapter 17 we read of a man called Micah. He had taken some money from his mother, but when she noticed it had gone he returned it to her. She then used some of the money to build a little idol to God. Judges 17 v3 “…When he returned the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, she said, "I solemnly consecrate my silver to the LORD for my son to make an image overlaid with silver. I will give it back to you." v4 So after he returned the silver to his mother, she took two hundred shekels of silver and gave them to a silversmith, who used them to make the idol. And it was put in Micah's house.

Micah did what he saw fit to worship God, but it was still all so wrong. And the error didn’t stop there…

Judges ch17 v5 Now this man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod (a priestly garment), and some household gods, and installed one of his sons as his priest.

And verse 6 says “…In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit…”

A few verses later in the chapter we read that Micah had met up with a Levite priest from Bethlehem and brought him into his house to live as his own private priest. And so the errors grew worse.

It really is so very easy to lose sight of our relationship with God, even from within the church. It has happened to me several times. But thankfully, God has always made a way to bring me back into line again. He brings us all back eventually. John’s Gospel Ch10 v27 records Jesus as saying “…My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me…”.

For that is what God does. He really does want you and me to have a loving relationship with Him. He said so Himself in one of his commandments to Moses. Exodus ch20 v3 "You shall have no other gods before me. v4 "You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. v5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, v6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

(There is another parallel account of this same incident when God gave His commandments and it is recorded in Deuteronomy ch5 v4-22).

But, God always brought His people back into fellowship with Himself. That’s what a loving God does. Sometimes there are things that get in between us and God. And they aren’t necessarily sinful things. Sometimes they can just be distractions. But eventually they can get in between us and our private relationship with Jesus. And it is this relationship which we must maintain above all else.

Church works and ministries will come to an end. Friendships will wax and wane. People and places will come and go. But our loving relationship with Jesus will be with us all day and every day. And it is this which we must maintain first and foremost, even if it means putting our ministries and projects second for a while. Get rid of the little idolic habits and shrines which keep us from God, and just take time to read His word, pray to Him and worship Him in our hearts.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.
 
Email - TheseLivelyOracles@hotmail.com
Internet - www.theselivelyoracles.co.uk
Facebook - These Lively Oracles
Twitter(X) - @LivelyOracles58

Comments

Post a Comment

Like

Popular posts from this blog

Ding Ding. And come Out Singing....

Sometimes I sit in church and look around at the people. I just watch who comes in and sits down and who comes in, leaves their coats down and goes out again. I see young parents preoccupied with their children and choir singers and musicians fussing over their music and instruments. What they all have in common though is that they are all looking around for some friends, family and acquaintances so as to acknowledge them and wave to them. I do not know the people well enough in this church to see who does not like who. I’m sure there are some like that. But I’m not looking for those scenarios. I remember at another church I attended a very good friend of mine, Frank was his name, came in with his family and sat in the row directly in front of us. We all smiled and greeted each other and then Frank, with a twinkle in his eye, asked his wife to swop seats with him. His wife looked up at him curiously and asked, “Why?” Frank replied, “Because when the Pastor asks us all t...
Read more

The Littlest Town.

Our thoughts this week are all centered round the Nativity. And although the festival of Christmas has been commercialised and embellished beyond all recognition there are still certain bits of the story that remain constant. One such reference is to the town of Bethlehem. It would have been a small sleepy town where the Bible tells us that the shepherds kept watch over their flocks of sheep. But I decided to do a bit more reading on the place. And there is another side to Bethlehem’s story. A pre-history, if you will. Bethlehem. Wow, what a place. So steeped in biblical history. In one book that I enjoy reading (Sketches of Jewish Social Life by Alfred Edersheim) the writer mentions an area called  Migdal Eder. It translates into The Tower Of The Flock and it suggests that the shepherds who watched over their flocks by night were sitting in watchtowers. Luke ch2 v8 tells us that the shepherds were abiding the in the fields. But a quick look onto the internet maps and we can see th...
Read more

The Voyage To The Unknown

In fourteen hundred and ninety two. Columbus sailed the ocean blue. He had three ships and left from Spain; He sailed through sunshine, wind and rain. And so the poem by Jean Marzollo goes. It’s a glamourous and fantastical poem about what was a dangerous and hastily threw together journey. I was listening to a sermon by my favourite online preacher when he spoke of Christopher Columbus. He said…..               When he set out, he didn’t know where he was going.                When he got there, he didn’t know where he was.               When he got home, he didn’t know where he’d been. Our “faith journey” as a Christian is very much like that. Everything starts out at some point in our lives. And we do the things that we do to join in with other Christians and churches. But most of the time our journey leads us on twists, turns and detours that we coul...
Read more