Today's Reading:
- Exodus 26-32
- Psalm 41-44
- Isaiah 41-44
- Matthew 19-20
- 1 Corinthians 11-13
God will not share His glory.
Over and over again, today's reading emphasized that. Chapter after chapter in Exodus, God is giving Moses the blueprints for the Tabernacle--the ONLY house of worship God ever personally designed. And when Moses takes too long coming back down the mountain, the people get restless and demand that Aaron make them a god they can see. Enter the Golden Calf, made from the golden jewelry donated by God's wonderful people. Barely a month after shouting with enthusiasm their commitment to honor the Lord and His commandments, these people are breaking them with fervor. Worshiping another God, making an idol, blaspheming the name of the Lord...not to mention the adultery (and according to some traditions, murder to get protesters out of the way) committed as they "sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play." Boy, were they in for it when Moses got back.
In Psalms, our attention is directed again and again to all that God has done for us, making it clear that He is worthy of all our praise and worship and devotion.
Isaiah makes a mockery of serving false gods and their representative idols. A man takes an axe into the woods and chops down a tree. With part of it he builds a fire and bakes his bread and cooks his meat; with the other part he fashions a god with eyes that cannot see, ears that cannot hear, hands that cannot reach out, and a mouth that cannot speak. And this he worships. In spite of the fact that he has a real God who does see and hear and touch and speak--a God who always has and always will.
And He is not pleased when we turn aside to worship other things. In today's world, we may not be bowing down before little statues or burning incense to them or offering our prayers to their deaf ears. But any time we allow something to turn our thoughts, our hearts, our actions away from God, we commit idolatry. Any time we allow something besides God to be the main priority in our lives, the standard and rule by which to live by, we create a false god for ourselves. Any time we allow the things of this world to distract us from serving the Lord Most High and Holy, we have forsaken the true faith.
You only have to read the Bible to find out what happens to those who don't keep their focus on God.
"I am the Lord; that is my name!
I will not give my glory to anyone else.
I will not share my praise with carved idols."
Isaiah 42:8, NLT
Don't let this world and its offerings distract you from worshiping the Lord. Give God the glory and the honor and the praise for what He has done...and for Who He is! He will have it not other way.
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