Worship the Giver not the Gifts

“He removed the high places and broke down the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherah. He also broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the sons of Israel burned incense to it; and it was called Nehushtan.” -II Kings 18:4 God reveals an important lesson to us through this verse. In the wilderness, God had brought deliverance and healing when Moses created the bronze serpent. However, later on, Israel took the bronze serpent, which God has used to bless them, and made it an object of worship. In the early church and medieval times the church often did the very same thing. They worshiped artifacts and objects, which is idolatry. Most all have heard of the search for the holy grail, which was a quest to find the cup from the Lord’s supper so it might be worshipped. The church must always be careful to worship God (Jehovah) and not His blessings. Such worship is a natural tendency of the flesh, which wants something tangible, something that can be seen, to set its worship upon. However, we are a people who "live by faith", and faith believes the unseen. Faith knows the blessings we have received in the natural realm are out of the goodness and love of our wonderful Lord who dwells in the unseen realm. We are to move past the blessings to the Giver of the Blessings and give Him worship. We worship "in spirit and in truth," not in the flesh. We are blessed in so many ways: peace in life, deliverance from Satan, health, friends who support us, and family that loves us. All these come from the life of God we have freely received. We should be thankful for them but never make them the focus of our life. PRAYER: Dear Heavenly Father, you have been so gracious to me. You have blessed me with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places. I thank you for these blessings today. I recognize they come from Your hand and worship You. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

#worship #TopicArticle #idolatry #blessings #truth #faith