Deuteronomy 7:4-6a "For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly. (5) But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire. (6) For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God..."
I repeat yesterday's verse with additional thoughts concerning putting away
those things that are detrimental to our Spiritual health. The gods of
this world have a definite effect on our lives. They affect us in ways which
cannot be seen until they "boil to the surface." They begin in
our minds by entrapping us through chains of addiction. Chemical elements, such
as drugs and alcohol, come to mind when we think of addictions; yet, there are
many other addictions which can affect us in other ways. We can be addicted to
our work. We can be addicted to money. We can be addicted to the pleasures of
this world. We can be addicted to ourselves. Satan is subtle in the manner he
uses "things" to become our driving force or the main objectives of
our lives. The ultimate result of any of these gods becoming prominent in our
lives is that they turn us away from following God.
You see, these things begin in our minds as Satan draws our attention to them.
But they never stop in the mind. They gradually sink down within us and begin
to affect our hearts as we grow colder to the things of God and to serving one
another. Jesus warns us of this in Matthew 24:12, "And because
iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold." I've often
looked at this passage as meaning we grow cold because of all the iniquity that
is around us. But as I look at it this morning, I also see that because
iniquity abounds within our minds (due to the gods or idols of this world), our
love for God and for others can grow cold. This is a very real and present
danger.
There is only one way to deal with such things and that is by the grace and
mercy of our Lord. We often think we cannot turn away from such things and yet,
God has commanded us to not only turn away but also to destroy them.
There was something in Paul's life that was troubling him. There is much
speculation as to what it was, but the reality is we can only speculate. He did
not name that "thorn in the flesh." We all have thorns in the
flesh that disrupt our daily walk with the Lord. We saw in our study of Hebrews
that it was called the "sin that doth so easily beset us." We
all have our weaknesses that intrude into our spiritual beings, whether they be
physical, emotional, or spiritual. They must be dealt with in order to maintain
our daily walk with the Lord.
Why must we deal with them? "For thou art an holy people unto the
LORD thy God." God has separated His people from those who are
caught up in the world. We are to walk as a "separate people";
that is, we are to walk in such a manner that the Lord is glorified in us. We
are to shine forth the light of our blessed Lord and Saviour, Jesus
Christ. We must deal with those things of this world that can dim that
light. If we feel ourselves too weak to be able to cut them down and
destroy them from our minds, then we must lean upon the Lord and ask for His
grace. His answer to us is the very same answer He gave the Apostle Paul:
"My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in
weakness." (2 Corinthians 12:9)