What’s your idol?

“Whoops! That was close!” Moses was trying to be careful as he made his way down

the mountain, but his foot kept slipping under the loose pebbles. He had almost fallen for the

third time. He kept on going, slowly, and a while later he reached the end of his perilous

descent. He couldn’t wait to get back and show his people the stone tablets that God had given

to them. But what was that? Music? He looked down at the Israelite camp, and beheld a

nightmare. The people were worshipping some golden calf! Moses wasn’t excited anymore.

He wasn’t even happy. He was angry. He screamed, threw the tablets which then broke into

pieces, and then crushed that golden idol to smithereens.

Though there has always been idolatry in the world, it is worse today. In America, our

idols definitely do not resemble golden calves, but instead can come in the forms of Apple and

Samsung, Sephora, American Eagle and Tilly’s, Instagram and Facebook, YouTube, Taylor

Swift, Chik-Fil-A, Netflix, Amazon, Trump, Costco, and, hey, don’t forget about those mirrors

in your very own house. Of course, some of these things aren’t necessarily bad, but they can

become idols.

There is another form of idolatry too. We don’t even notice till someone points it out.

We love to put our identity in other people. If we know somebody that is popular or respected

in the community, we tell everyone. This was the case with Jesus’ own brothers. They tried to

get him to perform miracles at the Feast of Tabernacles, so that people would know that he

was their brother, and praise them. John 7:1-9 talks about this. His brothers said,

“Depart

from here and go into Judea, that your disciples also may see the works that you are doing.

For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly. If you do these

things, show yourself to the world.

” They wanted to be able to say,

“Look! Here’s Jesus! He’s

our brother!” John goes on to write,

“For even his brothers did not believe in him.

” Then Jesus

calls them out. Verses 6-7 continue,

“Then Jesus said to them,

‘My time has not yet come, but

your time is always ready. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify of it

that its works are evil.

’” Boom.

There are a million and one things that we idolize. Here’s an easy way to tell if you are

idolizing something (or maybe even someone). Does it constantly occupy your thoughts? Do

you go to it for comfort? The only thing we should be going to for comfort is God. Praying

always helps! God wants us to only worship him, but our idols often get in the way. An easy solution to do is what Moses did- smash that sucker into smithereens.

Caring For Others

Ephesians 4:32 says: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

I love this verse because it’s a reminder to love, forgive, and be like Christ in the way he is toward us. We can gain a lot from this verse. 

1. We are all to love one another.

2. We are to forgive each other.

3. We are supposed to treat everyone the way Christ treats us.

The fruit of the spirit is similar to this. Galatians 5:22 says: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

So, from what I can plainly see, we should be caring, and love one another the way Christ loves us. We should take care of each other, we should be patient with each other, and we should strive for this. It won’t be easy, but we should never stop trying, and even when it’s difficult, we should try even harder. This reminds me of another verse. James 1:3: Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

-Jocelyn

Faith Is More Than a Feeling

Sometimes I have trouble letting other people explain the rules to board games and other similar activities, because I feel like I could be doing it better. However, it’s often a good idea not to interrupt them or shove my way into the conversation just because of my feelings.

Our relationship with God can be similar at times. Often we don’t feel confident in Him – we don’t feel faithful. That might seem like a bad thing, but it’s actually alright. You see, even many of the “heroes of faith” in the bible didn’t feel their faith all the time.

Take, for example, Abraham. When God instructed him to sacrifice his son, Isaac, his feelings probably weren’t very confident, in fact, inside he almost surely wanted to not kill his child.

Noah as well – he had never seen rain or floods, so there must have been times where he didn’t feel confident in God, times when he had doubts.

Also Rahab – she didn’t even know God, like, at all! It’s extremely unlikely that she felt any sort of trust and faith in Him.

And yet, all three of these people are recognized for their faith. James 2:23 says “God counted [Abraham] righteous because of his faith.” Hebrews 11:31 says it was by faith that Rahab was not destroyed along with the rest of Jericho. 

This is possible because of a very important truth — Faith is more than a feeling. Faith is also a choice and an action(s) based on that choice. Feeling faithful and confident in God is also amazing, but it’s not all! Despite feeling doubtful, and that your faith is “too weak” you can still choose to trust Him.

James 2 talks about faith being revealed through action. Action is a necessary follow-up step to choosing faith. In fact, without action it’s not really faith. Remember the encouraging truth that action can happen in spite of doubts!

There will always be opportunities for making the choice to act upon your faith. What are some in your life? Dive into this with God and decide on a circumstance that you will choose faith in.

— Ransom W.