November 9, 2023 | Martin Luther – Day 49
“It is very easy to fall into idolatry, for all of us are idolaters by nature. Since idolatry is born in us, it pleases us very much.
Martin Luther
Because of the life of sin we have chosen for ourselves, idolatry comes easy. It takes our mind off our shortcomings and keeps them focused on things that bring us pleasure. God said in Exodus 20, “You shall have no other gods before me,” yet we continue to shape false gods in the hope that they will somehow serve us well enough to bring us some semblance of peace.
Idols such as sexual pleasure, evil desire, and covetousness please us because they serve our deepest sinful desires. The devil knows this, so he promotes them through whispers into our all-too-willing ears.
Unfortunately for all those caught under the false promises of the devil, “Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love” (Jonah 2:8). They trade the love that God has shown them for a false worldly love that only leads to destruction. Hope is lost because it has been placed in idols that cannot bring us salvation from anything but boredom.
God tells us through His Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 10: 14, “Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.” God knows that the more we rely on other false gods (those things we place our hope and trust in), the more we separate ourselves from Him. Instead, He would have us to flee from the false gods of the world so that we might be better able to place all our hope and trust in Him.
Galatians 4:8-9 gives us our first step into doing just that. It says, “Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. But now that you have come to know God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?”
The ability to withstand our dependance on false gods is to come to know the one true God more deeply. He has given us His Word as a gift so that we might begin and sustain a more meaningful relationship with Him and He has given us His Son so that the prospects of sin and death will no longer have their grips on us.
Today, start your relationship journey with God in a deeper, more meaningful way. Let Him speak to you through His Word and begin a conversation with Him that will last a lifetime.
Our prayer: Heavenly Father, work in my heart to draw me closer to you. Instill in me an urgency to get to know you more through Your Word and guide me into a dependency on you that overrides my dependance on the false gods of the world. Amen.
