Today's Reading:
2 Kings 17:1-18:12
2 Corinthians 11:1-15
Psalm 104:1-18
Click on Text Link to Read Online
Focus Verses: 2 Kings 17:14-17
14
But they would not listen and were as stiff-necked as their ancestors,
who did not trust in the LORD their God. 15 They rejected his decrees
and the covenant he had made with their ancestors and the statutes he
had warned them to keep. They followed worthless idols and themselves
became worthless. They imitated the nations around them although the
LORD had ordered them, “Do not do as they do.” 16 They forsook all the
commands of the LORD their God and made for themselves two idols cast in
the shape of calves, and an Asherah pole. They bowed down to all the
starry hosts, and they worshiped Baal. 17 They sacrificed their sons and
daughters in the fire. They practiced divination and sought omens and
sold themselves to do evil in the eyes of the LORD, arousing his anger.
Insight:
The
Israelites had a long and sad history of unfaithfulness. Hosea and Amos
preached against their idolatry and blatant disregard for the commands
of the Lord. Israel fell because of its hard-heartedness toward God.
They allowed their worship of God to be compromised and corrupted by
serving foreign gods and idols. This spiritual adultery began with the
first king to rule over the north after Solomon's death, Jeroboam, and
persisted even after the fall of the northern kingdom. Eventually even
the southern kingdom would succumb to idolatry.
Response and Action:
God
calls us to undivided devotion to him. We are to worship him, and him
only. Half-heartedness toward God is self-destructive. Careless
compromise destroys. God calls us to worship him in spirit and truth. I
will seek God with wholehearted devotion. I will honor God by putting
him first in my life. I will follow Jesus and look to him for the
guidance and strength I need to draw near to God.
O
God, help me to love you with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength.
Lead me away from temptation, and deliver me from evil. Help me to turn
away from what is wrong and to do what is right. Teach me to recognize
those things that threaten to diminish or corrupt my walk with you. Help
me to worship you in spirit and in truth. Show me your ways and give me
an undivided heart that is quick to worship and serve you alone.
Through Christ, I pray. Amen.
Spiritual Formation Verses: John 4:23-24
23 Yet
a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship
the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the
Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.
Resources:
Breaking the Idols of Your Heart
by Dan Allender and Tremper Longman
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