June 24, 2024
Passage Read: Ezekiel 12-15
Meditation Verses: 14:3-8
Thought
God sees the heart. He knows who seeks Him in truth and who seeks Him as just another possibility. In Israel, they had idols carved on the walls of the temple or standing around the temple or on every high hill and under every spreading tree. They had physical idols that could be seen and touched and carried. When they went into exile, not all of them abandoned their idols. They couldn't carry the physical form with them, but they could carry them in their hearts. They still came to seek the Lord, as if God was just one of many gods, as if He might have power to change a circumstance but also might not. Better to have access to many gods, because you don't know which will have power to grant your desire. So they still came to seek the Lord, as if just showing up would make Him happy enough to grant their wish. But they also went to their other gods when it suited them. They still didn't get that God is the only true God, and He proves it by being the only one who doesn't care about sacrifices and offering, but about behavior and conduct toward our fellow man. But that's also why people are so quick to turn to other gods, who only need gifts, the right gifts, to grant your wish.
Application
God is not a superior being who might or might not give us what we want. He is the Creator of all things, who made us to operate in specific ways. He is the Maker who deserves all allegiance and honor and obedience. He is Lord over mankind and over all Creation. He doesn't need anything from us, but has specific demands on how we are to live. He knows, because He made us! Any other god is just a counterfeit, who cares nothing about right and wrong, but only wants to muddy the waters and turn our hearts away from the Lord. I have many wants and wishes, but my purpose cannot be to seek what I want, but to live for what the Lord wants. The more I have things I must have, the more I'm tempted to look to other things, including my own power, to fulfill them. And that reveals the idols I harbor in my heart, who I turn to to give me what I want.