Idolatry Forbidden
TEXT: Leviticus 26:1–13
“Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the LORD your God” (Leviticus 26:1).
Obedience is the condition upon which the favour of God is promised. A man cannot bribe God, no, not with sacrifice or praise. Obedience to His commandments is an obligation emphasized in both Testaments.
In our text, the Lord gives a promise of fruitfulness, peace, safety and victory over every enemy to His people but the promise is based upon certain conditions namely, the forbidding of idolatry, reverence for His house and complete obedience to His word.
The Lord forbids the worship of idols and the making of any sort of images in our hearts. He punished Israel when they imagined in their hearts that God must be like the bull god of the Egyptians and made a golden calf and worshipped it.
We will be falling into the sin of idolatry if we try to make God in the image that is in our own minds, worshipping Him to fit our expectations, desires and circumstances. Some take God to be a Santa Claus, a jolly old man with a white beard having a basket of gifts in His hand. They worship Him for the gifts which they desire. To others, He is an Elijah to send down fire upon their enemies. What reckless religious imaging of a most holy God that is! Furthermore, every undue devotion and unrestrained appetite for money making, property acquisition, pleasure seeking and power is adjudged by the Holy Scriptures as a sort of idolatry.
Some in churches today do not obey the word of God anymore. They are backslidden and are faithless. They are weary of worshipping a God whose face they cannot see. They run now after the gods they can see. If we walk by sight, we will slip.
Our God is holy and He is higher than all the gods of the earth. He demands our love and devotion. Even though we may not see Him with our natural eyes, we know He is there and He lives for ever more. He has sent His Son, Jesus Christ to save us from all our sins. Let us serve Him with everything He has given us here on earth and in eternity we shall see Him face to face to receive the reward He has promised those who obey Him.
Thought for today:Worship and serve God only.