Worthless Idols Will Make You Worthless
In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, Hoshea son of Elah became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned nine years. He did evil in the eyes of the LORD . . .
Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up to attack Hoshea . . . Shalmaneser seized him and put him in prison. The king of Assyria invaded the entire land, marched against Samaria and laid siege to it for three years. In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and deported the Israelites to Assyria. He settled them in Halah, in Gozan on the Habor River and in the towns of the Medes.
All this took place because the Israelites had sinned against the LORD their God, who brought them up out of Egypt . . . They worshiped other gods and followed the practices of the nations the LORD had driven out before them, as well as the practices that the kings of Israel had introduced.
. . . They followed worthless idols and themselves became worthless.
. . . 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. So the LORD was very angry with Israel and removed them from His presence.
. . . He afflicted them and gave them into the hands of plunderers, until He thrust them from His presence. 2 Kings 17:1-20.
Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up to attack Hoshea . . . Shalmaneser seized him and put him in prison. The king of Assyria invaded the entire land, marched against Samaria and laid siege to it for three years. In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and deported the Israelites to Assyria. He settled them in Halah, in Gozan on the Habor River and in the towns of the Medes.
All this took place because the Israelites had sinned against the LORD their God, who brought them up out of Egypt . . . They worshiped other gods and followed the practices of the nations the LORD had driven out before them, as well as the practices that the kings of Israel had introduced.
. . . They followed worthless idols and themselves became worthless.
. . . 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. So the LORD was very angry with Israel and removed them from His presence.
. . . He afflicted them and gave them into the hands of plunderers, until He thrust them from His presence. 2 Kings 17:1-20.
I was a fierce opponent of the Christian faith when the Lord graciously and mercifully removed the darkness and scales from my eyes and I became a follower of Jesus Christ. I remember sitting in church for months with the sole goal of taking notes from the preacher's sermon and confronting him with statements from his sermon which I was convinced were neither intelligent nor convincing.
But then God showed me grace and the darkness was removed and I was totally convinced that the Gospel of Jesus Christ was the answer to my dark soul. So, I surrendered to Jesus and the young lady who invited me to church (she later became my dear wife) gave me my first Bible. I immediately consumed it from cover to cover and made extensive notes as I read. After reading through the Bible, I came back and wrote in the front leaflet, "Life without God is a hopeless end; but life with God is an endless hope." I love Jesus and I have faithfully served Him ever since. My reason for loving Jesus is because He made life worth living for me. I no longer had to live for things that were worthless and meaningless in the light of eternity.
Just like myself, the Israelites were graciously redeemed by God out of slavery and brought into the Promised Land. All God asked of them was that they should be faithful to Him and serve no other gods. But they turned their backs on Him and did very wicked things including sacrificing their children in the fire to please other gods. The commentary is arresting and sad: "They followed worthless idols and themselves became worthless."
As children of God, the things we give our energies to determine whether we live worthy or worthless lives. If we follow the idols that we so cherish at the cost of our relationship with God, those worthless idols will eventually make us worthless.
So, question: Do you have any idols (things that you know are really more important to you in a real sense than God) in your life? Is there anything that you secretly cherish even at the cost of your relationship with God? That idol is seen by God as worthless and the danger is that following them will eventually make you worthless as well. Please repent and deal with it.
But then God showed me grace and the darkness was removed and I was totally convinced that the Gospel of Jesus Christ was the answer to my dark soul. So, I surrendered to Jesus and the young lady who invited me to church (she later became my dear wife) gave me my first Bible. I immediately consumed it from cover to cover and made extensive notes as I read. After reading through the Bible, I came back and wrote in the front leaflet, "Life without God is a hopeless end; but life with God is an endless hope." I love Jesus and I have faithfully served Him ever since. My reason for loving Jesus is because He made life worth living for me. I no longer had to live for things that were worthless and meaningless in the light of eternity.
Just like myself, the Israelites were graciously redeemed by God out of slavery and brought into the Promised Land. All God asked of them was that they should be faithful to Him and serve no other gods. But they turned their backs on Him and did very wicked things including sacrificing their children in the fire to please other gods. The commentary is arresting and sad: "They followed worthless idols and themselves became worthless."
As children of God, the things we give our energies to determine whether we live worthy or worthless lives. If we follow the idols that we so cherish at the cost of our relationship with God, those worthless idols will eventually make us worthless.
So, question: Do you have any idols (things that you know are really more important to you in a real sense than God) in your life? Is there anything that you secretly cherish even at the cost of your relationship with God? That idol is seen by God as worthless and the danger is that following them will eventually make you worthless as well. Please repent and deal with it.
Prayer: Father, please help me to search my heart and deal with any idols in my life. Amen.