How Easily We Forget
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There are many passages in the Bible that are perplexing. For me, most of the Old Testament is that way. I’m always intrigued by the children of Israel. God chose them, brought them out of captivity, and dwelt with them. He did so many signs and wonders among them. How many of us have prayed to have a burning bush experience or have prayed for a ‘sign’ like in the Old Testament. There was no doubt that He was there. Moses heard God’s voice audibly and often! With God being so ever-present with them, how is it that they kept falling to idols and serving other gods?
From the wilderness to the Promised Land, back to captivity, and so forth- God’s chief complaint with His chosen people was that they didn’t worship exclusively; they turned from Him and disobeyed Him. How do you disobey God when He is right there? Think about it- most small children wait until you turn your back before doing something you told them not to do. Only bold children disobey you in front your face. And after one incident of people being killed on the spot, you would think that people would get the point- do what God says. Not that case.
A great conundrum- How does God Almighty part the sea for you to walk on dry land, and the next day, you build a golden calf as if He doesn’t exist? I didn’t get it. For many years, I didn’t get it. I’m no Bible scholar, and I’m sure many psychologists and group think scientists have this figured out already. But, there has to be something to this. Recently, I was reading about something completely different when the light bulb went off—I am just like the Children of Israel.
God is with us every day. We are breathing air and we are in our right mind. That’s not by happenstance. New mercies- every day. Do you know a mercy factory around here? None of us are creators of mercy. Yet, the Bible says new mercies we see every day. I was afforded the opportunity to accept Jesus as my personal savior and receive the Holy Spirit, a free gift, not of works. Though we might not have a physical pillar that follows us around, we are blessed beyond blessed. God has saved, healed, and delivered. We’ve had a burning bush experience. We’ve had a parting the sea experience. God has done some amazing things for us.
And once that experience is done, we turn our backs and build an altar to another god. We say- if it wasn’t for early detection, my cancer wouldn’t have been healed. If it wasn’t for my education, I wouldn’t have gotten this job. My frat brother knew someone that hooked me up… And the list goes on of idols, idols that we place before God. We give God’s glory away, just like the children of Israel in the Old Testament. We act like we can’t live without these things, when the Bible declares that God is our source. Not only that- but we take blessings and miracles for granted. We talk about it for a day and then we are off to the next problem.
The great delusion of the human experience is to get you to think that you can do it on your own with your own power, that you are the master of your destiny. This could not be further from the truth. Only with God do impossible things become possible. Only with God do you cross over on dry land where there was once a raging sea. Only with God can a mountain move and the winds and wave cease. Walking on water is only possible with God. You might say- ‘I’ve never walked on water.’ I beg to differ. If you have overcome any insurmountable circumstance, you’ve walked on water. There have been some situations that only had bad results on the face of it, but somehow something great happened. That was God. No one else did for you. Nothing else is capable of it.
It’s time to put God back in his rightful place- in the forefront of all things. The sad part of the Old Testament (spoiler alert) is that because of their disloyalty to God, a freed people go back into captivity. And they had so many warnings. From Moses to the Prophets, they all called them to return to God. Furthermore, many of them miss the Messiah when He comes. Is that a mistake that you can afford to make? Return to God. Acknowledge the One that has brought you out of darkness into the marvelous light so when the Messiah returns, you can see Him in peace (as my grandmother would say).
Let’s take some time and pray about the things that are keeping us from serving God with our all whole heart. Pray that God shows you the idols in your life—those things, those people, those desires that you put before Him and the plan that He has for your life.