SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/28/2013
11:52 PM
My Worship Time Focus: The Folly of
Idolatry
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Isaiah
44:9-20
Message of the
verses: “9 Those who fashion a
graven image are all of
them futile, and their
precious things are of no profit; even their own witnesses fail to see
or know, so that they will
be put to shame. 10 Who has fashioned a god or cast an idol to no profit? 11 Behold, all
his companions will be put to shame, for the craftsmen themselves are mere men. Let them all
assemble themselves, let them stand up, let them tremble; let them together be
put to shame. 12 The man shapes iron into a cutting tool and does his work over
the coals, fashioning it with hammers and working it with his strong arm. He
also gets hungry and his strength fails; he drinks no water and becomes weary. 13
Another shapes wood, he extends a measuring line; he outlines it with red
chalk. He works it with planes and outlines it with a compass, and makes it
like the form of a man, like the beauty of man, so that it may sit in a house. 14
Surely he cuts cedars for himself, and takes a cypress or an oak and raises it
for himself among the trees of the forest. He plants a fir, and the rain makes
it grow. 15 Then it becomes something for a man to burn, so he takes one of
them and warms himself; he also makes a fire to bake bread. He also makes a god
and worships it; he makes it a graven image and falls down before it. 16 Half of it he burns in the fire; over this
half he eats meat as he roasts a roast and is satisfied. He also warms himself
and says, "Aha! I am warm, I have seen the fire." 17 But the rest of
it he makes into a god, his graven image. He falls down before it and worships;
he also prays to it and says, "Deliver me, for you are my god." 18
They do not know, nor do they understand, for He has smeared over their eyes so
that they cannot see and their hearts so that they cannot comprehend. 19 No one
recalls, nor is there knowledge or understanding to say, "I have burned
half of it in the fire and also have baked bread over its coals. I roast meat
and eat it. Then I make the rest of it into an abomination, I fall down before
a block of wood!" 20 He feeds on ashes; a deceived heart has turned him aside. And he
cannot deliver himself, nor say, "Is there not a lie in my right hand?’”
We have written about idols in past SD’s, however we see
a whole section in Isaiah 44 which speaks of how men made idols out of the same
wood that they used to burn and warm themselves and also heat their stoves in
order to cook their meals, and what was left over they made into an image of a “god.” This was a very shameful process, to think
that men, men of Israel who were suppose to know the true and living God would
stoop this low to do this type of blasphemy against the Lord.
What could possibly be a reason for this type of thing to
happen? I can give one answer that may
not be entirely the total answer, but at least a part of the answer. We know from reading the book of Genesis that
Abram who was later renamed Abraham was an idol worshiper, but God called him
to move away from the place where he was living and move to the Promised
Land. He did not obey right away, but
after the death of his father he and his wife Sara did go into the Promised
Land. In the fifteenth chapter of
Genesis we see a promise given to Abraham by the Lord, that he would finally
have a child through his wife Sara and that through this child would be born
the children of Israel whom go would send to Egypt for four hundred years to
live and be in bondage there for most of that time. God promised that He would call them out of
Egypt and bring them into the Promised Land, but after the four hundred years,
and the reason was that the sins of those who were living in the Promised Land
were not yet complete. Now when Israel
finally got to the Promised Land under the leadership of Joshua the conquered
most of the land and were told by Joshua that they were to finish the job, to
rid the land of these people because they were idol worshipers and if Israel
did not do this then they would begin to act just like the people they were
suppose to drive out. Israel failed to
do this and so that is why Israel began to worship idols, and continued to do
so until the Babylonians conquered them in 586 BC. If Israel would have followed the instructions
of Joshua they would not have gotten themselves into the trouble that they were
in. The story we read about in Isaiah 44
happened because the children of Israel disobeyed the Lord.
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: When the Lord
saved me He cleansed me of all of my sins, past, present, and future, but just
like the children of Israel in the time of Joshua I need to continue to confess
any sins that I sin against the Lord so that I can have food fellowship with
the Lord, for just as there were physical enemies who wanted to pollute the
children of Israel, there are now both physical and spiritual enemies that I
have that want to do the same to me.
Paul writes about this battle that goes on in Romans chapter seven and
also writes about it in Ephesians chapter six.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Be faithful in living the Christian life so that
I can be ready to tell others about how they too can be saved.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
Question: “The Law” (Hebrews 10:1).
Today’s Bible
Question: “Where did John the Baptist
baptize Jesus?”
Answer in our next SD.
10/29/2013 12:19 AM
No comments:
Post a Comment