Dave’s Monday Blast – July 17, 2017

Last week we began to unpack an article by Pastor Albert Tate entitled “What do you do with a Disobedient God? Much like the children of Israel who tired of waiting for God to do their bidding, we have a tendency to expect God to answer our prayers within our boundaries and expectations. In their disappointment with God they created a Golden Calf they could “control”, in our disappointment we routinely replace our disobedient God with an idol of our heart. These idols are good or bad things that become ultimate things!

If you’re not reaching for and waiting for God, what are you reaching for? Are you reaching for your familiar at the expense of the one who is faithful?

Let us consider two common idols within our culture that are very INTENTIONALLY designed by Satan to enslave us:

1. Money: So many of us reach for money when we’re really longing for security. In the moment we fail to realize that security will never come from money. But money is never enough. The only security comes from God. No matter how much you try, money is an idol that will never save you. Money isn’t bad on its own, but chasing it, thinking security will come from it, will never get you where you want to be. Security is not built on money…it’s built on “nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness”. Even if you only have a dollar in your bank account, one dollar plus Jesus equals security.

2. Pornography: People reach for pornography (or things like it) when they long for intimacy. We reach for what’s easy and accessible, but what we really want is to be known. We want to be known in a way that only a god who can see us and love us can provide. We want someone who knows the extent of our failures and faults and loves us anyway. We long to feel the kind of connection that only comes from Jesus. What we reach for instead is cheap, shallow and fruitless.

Next week we will look at the idols of Control and Relationship.