Let Us Turn From Our Idols
Scripture Passage: Deuteronomy 4:25-31 (NASB)
25 “When you become the father of children and children’s children and have remained long in the land, and act corruptly, and make an idol in the form of anything, and do that which is evil in the sight of the Lord your God so as to provoke Him to anger, 26 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will surely perish quickly from the land where you are going over the Jordan to possess it. You shall not live long on it, but will be utterly destroyed. 27 The Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the Lord drives you. 28 There you will serve gods, the work of man’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell. 29 But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul. 30 When you are in distress and all these things have come upon you, in the latter days you will return to the Lord your God and listen to His voice. 31 For the Lord your God is a compassionate God; He will not fail you nor destroy you nor forget the covenant with your fathers which He swore to them.
SUMMARY
Moses is warning the Israelites that if they worshiped or made idols, they will anger God. He also says that God will decrease the Israelites in number. Moses also prophesies that if the time comes that they do betray God, they will seek God when they feel God’s wrath. Then, the Israelites will experience God’s grace and mercy. Moses reminds the people that God is compassionate and will not fail them.
MEDITATION & REFLECTION
I was blessed by today’s QT because it reminds me to assess my heart and to examine all the idols I have in my life. It also reminds me that God will get angry if I create or worship any idols in my life. My family is Buddhist and it makes me sad that they worship a false man-made idol. Lately, I have been sharing the gospel to my parents and by the grace of God, my Mom has been very open-minded asking me a lot of questions after this last week’s Sunday service.
The Israelites also remind me of myself because I felt like after I went through distress, I eventually opened my heart to God. Verse 30 says, “When you are in distress and all these things have come upon you, in the latter days you will return to the LORD your God and listen to His voice.” It just shows that God knows our hearts very well and understands what it takes for us to seek the Lord.
APPLICATION
God reminds us that He is compassionate and that He will not fail us. I failed many times because my flesh is so weak to this world. It is nice to know that God is compassionate and understands how hard it can be to not be attached to worldly things. I plan to always assess the idols in my life by knowing what I spend my money on and whether it is glorifying to God or not. I would like to be more generous with the resources given to me by God and use it to glorify Him more. I also need to pray more and ask God how I can manage the resources I have to glorify God. I thank God for reminding me to assess my heart and to stay focused on God.
PRAYER
I praise You, God, for being so faithful and for Your grace even after I have failed many times. Thank You, Lord, for coming after me even though I kept pushing You away many times. I repent for the many times I have idolized Netflix and social media rather than spending time with You. I repent for being complacent and not seeking after You when times are good. I just want to keep my focus on You only and to also lead my fiance closer to You, as well. I want to glorify You through my future marriage and also want to fear Your wrath and anger in regards to worshiping other idols. I pray that You help assess my heart and help rid the idols of this world from my heart. I pray that my parents will also rid themselves of their idols and that their hearts will be softened by Your love. Thank You, Lord, for never failing us.
Please share your personal meditations on this Scripture passage with the HolyWave community in the comments section below. (We reserve the right to moderate comments.)