Altars of False Worship

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Moses speaks to Israel just before they enter the Promised Land. He commands them to "utterly destroy" all the places where the Canaanites had worshiped. We also are to tear down every worldly god that we worship right along side of God. What pagan worship places can be found in your heart? Stuff, money, prestige, your calendar, anger, food, TV, computer? God is calling you to crush them and follow Him alone!

Israel's job was to "tear down altars...smash sacred pillars...burn the Asherim poles with fire...cut down the engraved images of their gods...and obliterate their name from that place"  (Deuteronomy 12: 3)  Then they were commanded to "not act like this toward the LORD you God."  It all seems so Old Testament-ish, doesn't it?  Sometimes it is hard to relate to the world that they were living in.   We don't have "engraved images" that we set around our house and bow down to.  We don't have altars out in the wood that we go to to worship the god of weather.  So how does this apply to us?

You don't have to look much further than your heart.  If you are really honest with yourself, you know that there is much hidden there that you might prefer the rest of the world not see.  But if, again, you are really honest with yourself, you are aware that the rest of us can clearly see at least some of the things that you worship.  

But can we worship something else along side of our worship of God?  Of course, we can!  You go to church every week, pay your tithe, sing praises to God, listen to solid teaching, and minister in those areas that you feel called to.  But at the same time, you have to have the latest fashions (and so do your children).  You  do whatever it takes to make more and more money (to pay for more and more stuff).  Your calendar may be so booked with your social events (or all of your children's activities) that you make no personal time for the God you say you worship.  And we all know how glued we are to our phones, our facebook, our computers and our television sets.

Does God like it that we have other gods besides Him?  Of course He doesn't!  Does He just wink at our other gods? NO!  What He wants from us is the same thing hat He wanted from Israel.  He wants us to go into our hearts, see what is there, and destroy and abolish every single thing that draws us away from our singular worship of Him!

What are the gods that live around you and in you, in the very midst of God? When God said, "You shall have no other god before Me" He meant that we are not to have any other gods and they are not to be flaunted in His face!  He is not interested in being "added" to our lives.  He want to be our life!

Tear down....smash....burn....cut down....obliterate.  These are strong words for the very thing God is calling you to do to your gods.  Will you?