Read Jeremiah 11:9-17
What is it that makes something wrong, sinful or bad? Sometimes it’s apparently inherent in the command or action. Murder, for example, is wrong because it deprives someone of a life and loved one’s of a person they love. For some people idolatry isn’t
Yet we read that the people continued to follow their stubborn hearts in worship of idols, statues and false gods. In fact we read that the people of God had as many gods as they had towns and as many altars to the false god Baal as there were streets in Jerusalem.
Yet even though idolatry has been labelled sinful, there is still something attractive about idolatry that continues to lure hearts away from the one true Living God. Perhaps it’s the fact that in worshipping false gods we retain a measure of power and control. Consider for example Baal the storm god. If a drought were causing much havoc and distress, the people could offer something to Baal to make the rains come. The power was in the hands of the people. When one’s cattle were not producing abundantly, an offering to the appropriate god could ensure a plentiful and healthy herd of cattle.
In contrast, when you worship the one true living God you relinquish your right to control and you submit to the Lord’s authority. In a drought or in times of poor offspring yield one can only plead with God and seek His blessing. There is no offering or sacrifice that can manipulate the Lord God Almighty that He might succumb to our desires. When we worship God, we become the submissive one’s under God’s authority.
Many people today in the church still have an issue with submitting to God’s authority. They want to stand in the assembly of the righteous before God and “worship” Him but still want to call the shots in their own lives. Is this attitude really that different to the people of Israel over 2,000 years ago? When I refuse to tithe or to give sacrificially to the Lord’s work through the local church, am I not trying to maintain control over my life and my affairs? When I seek to manipulate the church leadership to get them to do things my way am I not doing what the Israelites did?
The issue with idolatry is many sided. It’s an affront to God for His creation to bow down and to pray to something within creation or to worship it. But it’s also a rejection of His power. Sometimes it’s an attempt to manipulate the situation so that we can get what we want or desire. Sometimes it’s an attempt to maintain power and control - something innate in all humanity since the fall.
As believers in the New Testament church we need to make sure that we do not reject the Lord’s Authority in our own lives and that we do not seek to manipulate situations so that we get what we desire or want rather than letting God have His way. We submit to the Lord’s authority by submitting to His Word and by living it out day by day. Sometimes that submission will cause heart ache and pain. Some times it may cause suffering and sadness. In all of this though we are content to know that God is with us and loves us even as we walk in submission.
Prayer Points:
Using today’s Bible passage and reading notes spend time in adoration, confession, thanks and supplication.
Adoration:
Confession:
Thanks:
Supplication:
· Pray that each person in your congregation would have a submissive heart to the Word of God and that they would willingly and joyfully put themselves under the authority of the Word.
· Pray that the Word would be powerfully and faithfully preached in your church each Sonday. Ask God to use the preaching to do His work and to mould the congregation into what He wants for His purposes.
1. How can a congregation know God’s will for that congregation?
2. How can an individual know God’s will for him or herself?
3. In what ways do we see God’s authority being rejected by churches today?
4. What is God’s call to these churches?
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