TLIC Psalms. July 9. Their Idols.

Read Psalm 78:54-58.  ⁵⁴And he brought them to his holy land, to the mountain which his right hand had won. ⁵⁵He drove out nations before them; he apportioned them for a possession and settled the tribes of Israel in their tents. ⁵⁶Yet they tested and rebelled against the Most High God and did not keep his testimonies,⁵⁷but turned away and acted treacherously like their fathers; they twisted like a deceitful bow. ⁵⁸For they provoked him to anger with their high places; they moved him to jealousy with their idols.

Israel’s original sin in the wilderness was discontentment. A sin that left the Passover generation out of the Promised Land. The next generation, the one that made it into the land, the one that ate the milk and honey, the one who saw walls crumble and armies flee, they had nothing to be discontented in. They lived in houses they did not build, and ate from gardens they did not plant. Once they made it to the Promised Land, like their parents, they advanced straight to the sin of idolatry.

When God is slow and silent, we are discontent rather than worshipful in the waiting.

When God comes through, keeping all of his promises, we will worship his gifts before we’ll worship the Giver.

The irony is how quickly the Israelites found themselves worshiping the very idols they once tore down. But, oh, how true is this for those in Christ as well.

We came to Christ for free salvation, for unconditional love, for acceptance, for future glory within his presence. How quickly did we too turn to everything earthly, every good gift, everything but Christ and his love to satisfy what we once swore would only be satisfied in him?

To live is Christ is a life of identifying and rooting out our idols, our functional saviors, until only hope in Christ remains. Until we decide to take on this task of daily repentance we will never know ourselves, nor will we trust our position in Christ.

You: Is there anything in your life that you know won’t satisfy you, yet you keep running back to it anyway?

You in Christ: How does union with Christ’s eternal life guard your heart from the idols of temporary satisfaction?

Christ in you: Where can you follow Christ today, away from an idol of your heart?

Pray: Father, I would tear down every idol from its throne if I could. I need you to do it for me. Amen.