Do We Have Golden Calves

How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness and grieved him in the desert! They tested God again and again and provoked the Holy One of Israel.
(Psalm 78:40-41)

Meditation

The Israelites that were following Moses through the desert were definitely a stiff-necked bunch. They built an idol of gold just a few days after experiencing one of God’s greatest miracles since the creation when he parted the Red Sea. The rest of their time in the desert was spent whining. They lamented they were going to starve before trusting God would provide for them. After God had given them manna for a period of time, they complained that wasn’t enough to satisfy them. Every chance they got, they found a reason to be dissatisfied with how Moses, and therefore how God, was handling things. They were so bad, only two of the Israelites who went into the desert from Egypt ever entered the Promised Land.
We are not so different from those ancient Israelites? Today we do much of the same things. They worshiped a golden calf, made from their own gold, and crafted by the hands of Aaron. We might not literally get on our knees and worship a golden idol, but we worship false gods in other ways. Our gods are the things that we place the most value on; the things we spend most of our time and energy on. In these days of uncertainty, instead of focusing on Jesus, we spend all our time watching the world crash down around us. We put our trust in leaders to save us and our land when only God can do that. If our false gods cause us to spend more time on them than with Jesus, we are no better than those Israelites in the desert. We are just like them that worshiped the golden calf. Shame on us! Shame on me because I've spent way too much time doing just that.
The Israelites grumbled daily to Moses about almost everything. Today, if things start getting tough for us, we whine just like they did or try to fix those problems ourselves. Even when our false god is our good deeds, when things aren’t going well for us in other areas of our lives, we complain to God that he’s not holding up his end of the bargain. We do that instead of humbling ourselves before God. Instead of admitting our iniquities and failings, we blame God. Even though we do so much to provoke our creator, he still loves us and wants us to repent and rely on him. We will only provoke him for so long. He is long-suffering, but he will not be forever. He deserves our adoration and worship. Spending time with Jesus every day is how we show our gratitude for him bringing us out of our own desert of darkness and despair.





Prayer Time

Father God in heaven, your name is supreme in all the earth. Kings and princes have called themselves great but, they are now dust in the grave and you still reign. Father, this world if full of false gods that draw us away from you. Guard our hearts, Lord, as we reject their influences on our lives. Don’t let us be swayed by the gods of money and power like so many before us. Help us to keep our hearts pure and remove any covetousness you find there. We thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ, who is our living example of holiness. Remove the stony heart that beats in our chests and replace it with a brand-new heart, just like Jesus’. Jesus has called us out of this world and given us the hope of a blessed eternity. Give us the zeal to share the gospel with everyone we know. Everyone we meet should have no doubt that we are followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. We want only to please you, Lord, with our whole heart, mind, and soul. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen!

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