Jeremiah 16:20-21 Do people make their own gods?
Yes, but they are not gods!”
“Therefore I will teach them—
this time I will teach them
my power and might.
Then they will know
that my name is the Lord.”

Reading the Old Testament prophets, the references to idolatry are endless. However, we are hardly less free from idolatry today. In America it seldom takes the form of “graven images,” but it is idolatry none the less. The rhetorical question that starts this, and the answer, are as true today as they were 3000 years ago. Today we most often make things that are essentially non-religious into idols. Things like money and pleasure and prestige and the like take priority over devotion to, or even thinking about, our Creator. Technology is a common idol today, and sex is a perennial favorite. It’s not that any of these things are intrinsically evil, it is that any time they come ahead of God in our hearts and minds, they become idols. However, God is incredibly patient, and He gives us opportunities to come to our senses and repent. It has always impressed me that in telling the story of the Prodigal Son, Jesus said he “came to his senses.” (Luke 15:17) When we are focused on anything besides God, we are in a sense insane, or at least unconscious. God allows things in our lives to wake us up, to snap us out of our dazed stupor so that we can recognize what really is important. He teaches us (causes us to know) His hand and His power, so that we may repent and turn to Him in humility and obedience.

Before I started on this trip I knew I would be encountering many people, even many I care about greatly, who are largely ignoring God, but having that confirmed is rather depressing. I am not to be judgmental, but rather, by word and by example, encourage them to open their eyes to see God, and thus to see themselves and those around them more accurately. I am not to be a thundering, condemnatory prophet, but I am to show them what is possible in a relationship with God, and how desirable that is. I am not to let them pull me away from my own devotion to God, whatever demands they make on my time or whatever temptations they wave at me. I am to remember my own weaknesses and so not condemn, but neither am I to excuse, because repentance is essential.

Father, You know how grieved I am, but I know that You are grieved even more. Help me speak Your truth in love, in Your timing to produce Your results. Help me indeed hate the sin but love the sinner, never excusing sin because of who commits it, but never failing to express Your love and grace. May Your Name be hallowed as Your kingdom comes and Your will is done, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!