It’s been a busy morning, but I am grateful for some time to sit with You this afternoon, Father. Bless this time together. Amen.

1 Corinthians 10:14-15 (<<click here to read the passage)

As “modern” men and women, it is easy to blow past this sort of Scripture. We get it in our heads that we have nothing to do with idolatry – at least, most of us don’t. In our minds, we don’t bow down to images of stone, wood, or precious metals in our culture in particular. The only time we see those kinds of things is in movies or possibly documentaries on television. But excluding ourselves shows a very narrow perspective.

We may not bow down to stone or wood, but some still bow down to precious metals…gold in particular. The desire for wealth and the supposed security it brings controls many of us.

Here’s a good Old Testament verse to tie in here.

Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless. Ecclesiastes 5:10 NIV

The Apostle Paul hits the nail square on the head when he says in today’s passage,

Therefore, my beloved, run [keep far, far away] from [any sort of] idolatry [and that includes loving anything more than God, or participating in anything that leads to sin and enslaves the soul]. I am speaking as to wise and sensible people; judge [carefully and thoughtfully consider] for yourselves what I say. AMP

(A…just as a side note, you’re told to “run” here. See yesterday’s post, Don’t Just Stand There! Run!)

Wealth can be an issue, but note what Jesus said in Matthew 6:24,

“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon [money, possessions, fame, status, or whatever is valued more than the Lord].” AMP

The problem is not money in and of itself; it is loving money more than God. We’re in trouble when we stop controlling money, and money starts controlling us.

But don’t think that money is the only potential idol. The Amplified Bible’s exposition of the word mammon (the word many translations translate as money) tells us a lot about other things we allow to control us – possessions, fame, status…

We can be worshippers of paper idols. We can be controlled by the insatiable desire to get as many letters behind our name as possible – BA, BS, MD, PhD, MBA, just to name a few. How many certificates can you hang on your wall? Again, education is a wonderful investment that often benefits others and ourselves. We just mustn’t value it more than the Lord.

It all goes back to the very first commandment given to the people of Israel via the servant Moses,

“You shall have no other gods before me.” Exodus 20:3 NIV

That pretty much covers it.

Nov 14th, 2023, Tues, 12:59 pm