It’s a
challenging topic I will talk about for me but I think a very important one. It’s
about idolatry in our everyday life. In my youth group we talked about the
passage in Exodus where the Israelites adore the gold calf instead of the God
who brought them out of Egypt and God really touched my heart on this specific
topic. So I will just read this passage
for you, it’s in Exodus 32:1-4 :
"When
the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they
gathered around Aaron and said, 'Come, make us gods who will go before
us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what
has happened to him.' Aaron answered them, "Take off the gold earrings
that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to
me.' So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron.
He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a
calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, ' These are your
gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.'"
So I guess everyone of you has heard this
story before. But what blew my mind and brought me to reflection is to see where the Israelites have the gold
from. We find the answer in Exodus 12:35-36 where we read:
"The Israelites did as Moses instructed
and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold and for clothing. The
Lord had made the Egyptians favorably disposed towards the people, and they
gave them what they asked for; so they plundered the
Egyptians."
God not only
brought the Israelites out of slavery, but He gave them many blessings. They
could take all the treasures, jewelry, gold...of the Egyptians. God could
have just saved them from slavery and it would have been already a big miracle,
but he chose to do more : he blessed them with many gifts. And what the
Israelites do when they have the feeling that God is far away is to choose to
turn to the blessings of God, because they seem more real or of more worth than
God himself.
And sadly
this have been true many times in my life too, that I focus my regard on the
blessings God gave me instead of turning to God himself. He blessed me with a
great family, beautiful creation around me, the mountains, the possibility to
travel a lot, health, and so on. And so I’ve been born into a very sporty
family and it has always been the activity I did with my family: going to the
mountains or when we had less time, just going for a bike tour or for a run. I
really enjoyed it all and it’s a blessing God gave us as a family to be healthy
and just to like sports. But sports became an idol for me. It’s not bad in
itself, it’s a gift from God, but it took too much space in my life. That’s the
definition of an idol, it’s not always bad in itself, but it takes control in a
part of our life, which we don’t submit to God anymore. So I didn’t do sports
for God but for myself. I tried to define myself through sports and did it for
my own glory, instead of bringing glory to God.
But what I’ve discovered is
that the blessings God gives us are great, but they cannot fill us, and if we
take the blessings of God without God himself, we stay empty and lost. It’s
very challenging because these things are not bad in themselves. It’s not like using
drugs or pornography, which God hates. But when we misuse the stuff which
comes from God, it’s sinful in the same way.
There are so many things each one
of us received from God : it can be some close friends, a passion, skills
for music, success in your job or studies, a united family, health, money,
possibilities to travel, a nice youth group,... The question is : Is there
an area in my life where I don’t let God rule? How do I use all the blessings
God gives me? Do they have a higher place than God himself in my everyday
life ? Do I use them for God’s glory or for my own glory?
What I’m
still learning every day and it will be a lifelong journey is to focus on God and
not on the blessings. All the things he gave to me, I want to use to bring him
the glory. It’s not always easy to do but it’s worth it, because God in the
only one who can fulfill our needs. Especially when you feel far away from the
presence of God, I encourage you to not turn to the golden calf, like the
Israelites did, but to turn to the living true God and WALK BY FAITH to believe
that he’s always near you, even when you don’t feel it.
I think it’s also
important that we think about how we can bless the people around us with our
abilities, skills and passions God put in our hearts. God blesses us – not so
that we keep it for ourselves -- but so that we can be a blessing for this
world and live for Him alone. In closing I just want to read these verses from Romans 12:1-2:
"'Therefore,
I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living
sacrifices, holy and pleasing God - which is your spiritual worship. Do not
conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the
renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s
will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will.'"
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