A good cowboy don’t quit in the middle of the work and leave the boss shorthanded.”
–Elmer Kelton (The Smiling Country)
“For they were trying to make us afraid, saying, ‘Their hands will be weakened in the work, and it will not be done.’ Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands.”
–Nehemiah 6:9 (NKJV)
—————————–
If your mind was an art gallery in which your thoughts could become visible like pictures hanging on a wall, would you be willing for them to be on exhibit? Hmmm? I think I mentioned that I had been reading Samuel and the Kings. The people of Israel were a mess. For example, in the Book of Judges, right at the start, “They forsook the LORD and served Baal and the Ashtoreths” (Judges 2:13, NKJV). It was different in Samuel’s time and onward. Idol worship in one form or another became a disgrace in Israel.
Some people worshiped the false gods openly. How? Why? Some people merged the worship of Yahweh with the worship of Baal or other gods. This was a despicable practice, some involving child sacrifice. How could Israel, the children of God, the chosen ones, do such an abomination in the sight of the Lord after all He had done for them?
This was not only done by the common man, but the leaders, including the priests, took part in the pagan practices. Read Ezekiel chapter 8 and he speaks of the abominations of the leadership. In one verse he mentions people doing that in the dark, thinking others would not see.
“Then He said to me, ‘Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the room of his idols?’ For they say, ‘The LORD does not see us, the LORD has forsaken the land.'”
–Ezekiel 8:12(NKJV)
Note that this was during the exile–a time when people should be seeking God for redemption and renewal. Instead they were serving and worshiping idols. They adorned the walls of a room in their houses with ugly idols. This they did in the dark, not permitting others to enter and see what they had in that room. Then they complained that God had left them and did not answer their prayers. What hypocrisy and mockery.
Idols! It is hard for me to imagine serving Moloch, Dagaon, or Baal after seeing the Lord continually provide for Israel. Joshua foretold it. The Judges had to deal with it, and throughout the history of Israel they were constantly being warned by the prophets to put away idols and to turn to Yahweh.
However, do we have some idols in the art gallery of our mind? These would be things that we covet. Things that take the place of God–not going to His house but rather becoming in some form of recreational activity… Idol. What have we replaced God with in our minds and hearts? Oh, some will say they still worship God, but along with their special idols. What is on the wall of the mind that separates you from God?