Passage of the Day: Psalm 50: 21 – These things you have done [addressing evil done by those claiming to be believers] and I kept silent; you thought I was altogether like you. But I will rebuke you and accuse you to your face.
My Journal for Today: In our western, post-modern world, laced with humanistic relativism, it’s so easy to let our idolatry shape our image of God. I believe A. W. Tozer was right when he declared, “… no religion has ever been greater than its idea of God.” And today’s psalm, penned by Asaph in David’s court, is God’s warning in musical lyrics that we must not humanize God with our idolatry. As John MacArthur writes in today’s entry from Strength for Today, “… the essence of idolatry is possessing thoughts about God that are unworthy of Him.” We cannot let such satanically or selfishly driven forces, like materialism or entertainment or the cultural epidemic of sexual sin shape our concepts of God. If we do, we have fallen prey to Satan’s ploy to have us worship him rather than the one-and-only true God. Or Satan would be just as happy if we chose to worship selfish pleasure; … anything to take our eyes off Jesus; and anything which does so is an idol.
Our western culture drives us to substitute a lifestyle of truly worshipping God by focusing our minds and our time on education, science, entertainment, or psychology, all of which can/will distort our image of God if we let them. I pray that, in my own life, nothing I think or do or pursue will ever take away from my earnest and sincere goal (see yesterday’s journal entry) to know God – the one true God – Who seeks the first fruit of my attention in my relationship with Him [see Matt. 6: 33]. May I – may we – never allow our hearts to fall into the trap of idolatry and to let our deceitful hearts (Jer. 17: 9) see God blurred by the image of some idol we pursue in our lives.
My Prayer Today: O, my Lord, help me to know YOU; and let nothing in my life detract from that pursuit in faith and love. Amen
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