DAILY MANNA DEVOTIONAL
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 2018
IDOLS ARE VAIN
TEXT: JEREMIAH 10:1-16
Key Verse: “They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.” (Jeremiah 10:5)_
Hideyoshi, a Japanese warlord who ruled over Japan in the late 1500s, commissioned a colossal statue of Buddha for a shrine in Kyoto. It took 50,000 men five years to build, but the work had scarcely been completed when the earthquake of 1596 brought the roof of the shrine crashing down and wrecked the statue. In a rage, Hideyoshi shot an arrow at the fallen colossus. “I put you here at the great expense,” he shouted, “and you can’t even look after your own temple.”
Israel had fallen below ground zero on the shore of human depravity. They stoop so low to worship an idol made of wood, silver and gold, which can neither move nor talk. Jeremiah described the act as despicable and foolish. He condemned their state of moral decadence and concluded by extolling the greatness of our incomparable God, the Everlasting King Who makes the earth to tremble.
Idolatry is not only about worshipping images and deities which our ancestors passed down through the ages. It can occur when we value money, possession, people, or even ourselves above God. The soccer stadiums are always full to capacity by people who want to cheer their teams to victory during the league games and World Cup finals. Worldly concerts and performances in the theatres are filled to capacity while church attendance continues to decline because man has chosen to give these events priority above God.
Like Hideyoshi, our idols will collapse one day and their ruin will be very great. It’s now time to reflect on the choices we make in life, the things we place our priorities upon, to discover if we have drifted away from the true God. This will make us to reorder our priorities and be free from the idols we created.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Idolatry does not reduce God; it humiliates us.
COVER to COVER: DEUTERONOMY 8-10_
PONDER:
1. Idols are creations of corrupted and natural man turned into objects of worship or to objects he will not want the word of God to condemn. v3,4
2. The modernised "way of the heathen" are all idols v2. The tendency for the Church to learn and adopt them is high in the last days. We are not to learn them no matter how popular.
3. The customs and superstitions of the corrupted man are idols because he is unwilling to give them up even if the word of God condemns it. v3. That include mode of dressing, worship, celebrations etc.v3. They are vanities of the gentiles.
4. Idol worship is a product of the fall. The unconverted civilized man is still under its deceptive spell.
1. Idols are creations of corrupted and natural man turned into objects of worship or to objects he will not want the word of God to condemn. v3,4
2. The modernised "way of the heathen" are all idols v2. The tendency for the Church to learn and adopt them is high in the last days. We are not to learn them no matter how popular.
3. The customs and superstitions of the corrupted man are idols because he is unwilling to give them up even if the word of God condemns it. v3. That include mode of dressing, worship, celebrations etc.v3. They are vanities of the gentiles.
4. Idol worship is a product of the fall. The unconverted civilized man is still under its deceptive spell.
HYMN: O Worship the King (GHS 15)
1 O worship the King all-glorious above,
O gratefully sing his power and his love:
our shield and defender, the Ancient of Days,
pavilioned in splendor and girded with praise.
O gratefully sing his power and his love:
our shield and defender, the Ancient of Days,
pavilioned in splendor and girded with praise.
2 O tell of his might and sing of his grace,
whose robe is the light, whose canopy space.
His chariots of wrath the deep thunderclouds form,
and dark is his path on the wings of the storm.
whose robe is the light, whose canopy space.
His chariots of wrath the deep thunderclouds form,
and dark is his path on the wings of the storm.
3 Your bountiful care, what tongue can recite?
It breathes in the air, it shines in the light;
it streams from the hills, it descends to the plain,
and sweetly distills in the dew and the rain.
It breathes in the air, it shines in the light;
it streams from the hills, it descends to the plain,
and sweetly distills in the dew and the rain.
4 Frail children of dust, and feeble as frail,
in you do we trust, nor find you to fail.
Your mercies, how tender, how firm to the end,
our Maker, Defender, Redeemer, and Friend!
in you do we trust, nor find you to fail.
Your mercies, how tender, how firm to the end,
our Maker, Defender, Redeemer, and Friend!
5 O measureless Might, unchangeable Love,
whom angels delight to worship above!
Your ransomed creation, with glory ablaze,
in true adoration shall sing to your praise!
whom angels delight to worship above!
Your ransomed creation, with glory ablaze,
in true adoration shall sing to your praise!
PRAYER POINTS:
1. Lord, open my eyes to all the way of the heathen and customs of the people that are irritants to you.
2. Deliver me and give me grace to totally part with them no matter how popular.
3. Lord, visit the Church and expose all forms of idolatry and world customs.
4. Lord, purge the Church from modern idolatry and worldliness.
1. Lord, open my eyes to all the way of the heathen and customs of the people that are irritants to you.
2. Deliver me and give me grace to totally part with them no matter how popular.
3. Lord, visit the Church and expose all forms of idolatry and world customs.
4. Lord, purge the Church from modern idolatry and worldliness.
No comments:
Post a Comment