I’ve tried running from it all week, but it keeps catching up to me, pokes me in the arm and says, “And?”
I’m referring to 1 Samuel 5:1-4. The Philistines captured the Ark from Israel and set it up beside the idol of their god, Dagon. The next morning Dagon was on the ground before the Ark of the Lord. I guess they didn’t think much of it, so they set him up again. The next morning Dagon had fallen face forward again before the Ark of the Lord, but this time his head and both hands had been cut off and were lying on the threshold.
They got the idea and 1) never stepped on the threshold again and 2) found a way to give the Ark back to Israel.
Why has this Scripture hounded me all week?
Because I wonder what personal gods I’m trying to coexist with the one true God? God will not be mocked. (Galatians 6:7). He will glorify Himself if we choose not to do it.
God is holy. As Christians we are supposed to be holy, set apart. But do we entertain unholy things because they are fun, pleasing for a season and then try to justify it so that our choices and our devotion to God can coexist? This could be TV shows or movies that we watch, music we listen to, books we read, jokes we tell, friends we keep, what and how much we eat and drink, the list is endless.
It doesn’t work like that. We will reap what we sow (Galatians 6:7). But how are these things gods? Because we have the Holy Spirit who guides us into spirit and truth and confirms in us that these things are wrong, but when we do them anyway, we put them before God. Anything we put before Him is a false god and worse yet, by us making the decision to continue in these behaviors we are making ourselves god.
Deuteronomy 28 is 68 verses. The first 14 are blessings that God gives us. The last 54 are curses He gives us. We decide which we receive. Hear and obey God and get blessed. Hear and disobey God and get cursed.
It should be pretty simple, yet it’s not. I’m thankful that God will chase down His children with the Truth.
Onword and Upwords by Dennis Brady 