We don’t want to believe it because it doesn’t make us look good in God’s sight.
But we’ve all done the trade-in thing with God at one time or another.
Hopefully, it was a momentary lapse into selfishness that was quickly followed by repentance and a return to faithfulness.
I was reminded of our vulnerability for distraction/destruction while reading this morning from the Bible. The psalmist was pointing to the need for deep loyalty to the Lord, something that the wilderness-wandering Hebrews struggled to embrace.
It didn’t matter that multiple miracles from the hand of God had happened before their eyes.
That still wasn’t good enough to inspire lasting loyalty.
Wow.
“They traded their glorious God for a statue of a grass-eating bull. They forgot God, their savior, who had done such great things in Egypt” (Psalm 106:20-21)
Lest we point fingers and start picking up stones, we should evaluate if we have statues of grass-eating bulls in our lives.
Is there an activity that is more important to you on Sunday than going to church?
Is there a hobby or thing that is financially more important to buy or maintain than God’s call to sacrificially support ministry? Do I buy the larger flat-screen TV or do I give to the special offering to repair the sanctuary’s leaking roof?
Is there a nurtured grudge that is more golden to you than obedience to God’s command to forgive?
Grass-eating bulls won’t bring us inner peace and we certainly can’t ride them to heaven.
Discarding the statues and humbly taking Christ’s hand WILL shape us into what God wants and will take us to where we want to be forever.
Let’s do our best to appear faithful to our God, not foolish.
He’s got great things waiting for us in heaven.
As always, I love you
Martin
