June 23 - Pride and Idolatry

Today's Reading:
Jeremiah 48:1-49:22
Matthew 4:12-25
Proverbs 8:32-36 
Click on Text Link to Read Online

Focus Verses: Jeremiah 48:7-8, 47
7 Since you trust in your deeds and riches, you too will be taken captive, and Chemosh will go into exile, together with his priests and officials. 8 The destroyer will come against every town, and not a town will escape. The valley will be ruined and the plateau destroyed, because the LORD has spoken. - - - 47 "Yet I will restore the fortunes of Moab in days to come," declares the LORD. Here ends the judgment on Moab.

Insight:
Terrible judgment was poured out on the Egyptians, Philistines, and Moabites because of their pride, idolatry, and defiance. God, however, expresses more than anger and judgment through his prophet, Jeremiah. Jeremiah weeps as a testimony to God's sorrow over the sins of these people— "My heart laments like a flute." He also declares God's promise and intent to restore and renew those who are under judgment—"Yet I will restore in days to come!"

Response and Action:
I need to guard against pride and idolatry in my life. I must be honest about the ways I am defiant against God. My trust should be in God, not in myself. Jesus must be first in my life, and I must not let anything or anyone come before him. I must humbly yield my life to God, and look to him for the direction and strength I need. When I am experiencing God's discipline upon me, I must remember that God disciplines out of love, and promises to renew and restore.

O God, you have called me to trust in you, to put you first, and to offer myself to you in reverence for who you are. Deliver me from pride and teach me to put my confidence in you. Give me the discernment to know what is false and to worship you in spirit and truth. Forgive me for the times I resist or, worse yet, defy you. Help me to surrender myself to you and to be sensitive and responsive to your will and the guiding of your Spirit. Amen.

Spiritual Formation Verses: 1 John 5:20-21
20 We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. 21 Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.

Resources:
Breaking the Idols of Your Heart
by Dan B. Allender