Tag Archives: holiness

Taking the gods (with little g’s) to the Dump

Cleaning out the junk in your room or house is such a mix of emotions.  On the one hand, you hate letting things go that at one time had some value to you.  On the other, it feels so good to clean out and have a fresh start.

There was a king named Josiah who cleaned house for God and the whole nation once.  He decided to follow God after generations had ignored Him.  The priests were ordered to clean up the temple, and they discovered a book that no one had ever seen before.  It was the Bible.  Yep, that’s right, no one had seen it or heard of it.  THAT’S how far off the track the “children of God” had gotten.  Once they started reading it, and understanding what God wanted, they panicked.  Josiah decided to really clean things up, and went on a rampage.  You can read all about it in 2 Kings 22 and 23.  It’s pretty fascinating.

The amount of junk that was in the temple, that was used to worship fake gods, is appalling.  I was amazed as I read everything that the kings had put in this holy house of God.  It was almost incomprehensible that they could get so far offtrack that they would cram that much trash into such a sacred building.  I mean, after all, this is where God was supposed to meet with the people.  But they turned it into a religious storage barn, cramming in it stuff to worship any god that they happened to hear about.

So, Josiah comes along and cleans house.  He has to tear down monuments his father, grandfather, great grandfather, and more had built.  He had to destroy places where people worshiped everyday.  He had to destroy people’s misplaced hopes and dreams, and places they found comfort in.  It was all fake religion, and he had to destroy it.  So, he did.  Piece by piece, angry person by hurt person, he dismantled the mess that had been made, and returned things to a state of purity and focus.  It cost him greatly, but the reward was even greater.

I fully realize that you and I are not king of a country.  We don’t have to clean out a temple.  Or do we?  Scriptures tell us that we are now the temple of the Lord.  He doesn’t live in a building anymore, He lives within each of us who follow Him.  So, what junk is in the temple that needs thrown out?  How are you and I worshipping false gods of hopelessness, and messing up the relationship we have with God?  What habits do we run to for comfort that are not centered on God?  What images/videos/movies/websites/books/TV shows/etc. are we setting up to focus on that lead us, step by step, piece by piece away from God?  What god of power/money/authority/control have we set up a pole to bow down before and worship?  Which people in your life have become a little-g god to you?  What needs cleaned out in the temple today?

Yes, it may cost you.  Almost certainly, someone won’t like it.  It will take focus and effort.  We will have to replace what we remove with the right things of prayer, Bible study, community, service, worship, etc.  You can’t just toss out the bad and leave the room empty.  You have to refill the space with what was supposed to be there to begin with.

So, seriously, what is it for you?  What idol needs to fall?

Oh, by the way, Josiah was 8 when he became king.  He was 12 when he began cleaning house.  If he could pull it off, I’m pretty sure you and I can.  Just thought you’d like to know.

Whatever You Do, Do NOT Dance Like David! (new blog post)

Sometimes we think God is very, very interested in what we are doing for Him.  It can easily become a subconscious idea that we need to make God happy.  We find that idea going on in 1 Chronicles 13.  David becomes king, and realizes they need to bring the Ark of the Covenant up to Jerusalem so that they can use it for worship and prayer.  The Ark isn’t the one that Noah built, that was a huge boat.  This Ark is a box a few feet long that held the tablets the 10 Commandments were written on and the staff that Aaron used in Egypt to perform miracles.  It was a sacred box that represented God’s truth, God’s reign, and God’s power to the people.  It was very sacred and important.  God had told Moses and the people that if anyone touched it with their bare hands, then they would die.  They were supposed to carry it on poles, and only the priests could carry it.  They whole idea was for the people to understand that it wasn’t an idol, or something to worship.  It was a symbol of God’s love and power.  Respect God by respecting what He gave them.

So, David decides to bring the Ark to Jerusalem.  To use in prayer.  It was never used that way.  The priests prayed to God directly, not through a box.  But David wanted to use it that way.  So, they put it on a cart, and began hauling it to Jerusalem.  In the story, it talks about how hard David and his crew danced, sang, and celebrated.  It says “8 David and all the Israelites were celebrating with all their might before God, with songs and with harps, lyres, timbrels, cymbals and trumpets.”  Why?  I’ve heard it was because David loved God so much, that he was captured in worship, taken by his passion for Jehovah. 


I don’t think so.


When you read the whole story, the story is about how misguided David is.  He does everything wrong.  No priests are moving the ark, just people.  It’s on a cart, not on poles.  It’s being treated like an idol with power, not a symbol of the power of God.  So, when one of the ox stumbles, the cart tips, and the Ark begins to fall off (maybe that is part of God’s reason for having the priests carry it?).  One of the guys there puts his hand on it to catch it, and he dies.  No, God isn’t being petty or mean.  The whole crew is being disobedient and trying to manipulate God by what they are doing instead of listening to what He said to do.  It cost one guy his life, and David got scared and moved the Ark to someone else’s house.


We do the same thing.  We can easily believe that God is someone who we need to impress with how dedicated we are, or how passionate we are, or how smart we are, or how much we serve and give, or with how judgemental we can be, or with how forgiving we can be, or with how nice we can be.  If we are simply ______________ enough, then He will be happy with us.


Nope.


He loves us because of who He is.  Our worship services are symbols of Him, not idols to hold to tightly.  Our music, art, giving, laughter, love, and kindness all point back to how amazing He is, not how good we are.  


When we take anything of God’s, and try to control it our way, it will kill us.  Every time.


So, often we do what David did.  We get freaked out and run from God.  But catch the last part of this story:

“12 David was afraid of God that day and asked, “How can I ever bring the ark of God to me?”13 He did not take the ark to be with him in the City of David. Instead, he took it to the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite.14 The ark of God remained with the family of Obed-Edom in his house for three months, and the Lord blessed his household and everything he had.”

David dumped this dangerous thing on Obed-Edom.  When David was convinced it was too much for him to handle, he ditched his guilt and responsibility on someone else. 

And God blessed them.


The Ark wasn’t the problem.  David’s heart was.


Your ministry isn’t the problem.
Your family isn’t the problem.
Your job isn’t the problem.
Your boyfriend / girlfriend / spouse isn’t the problem.
Your church isn’t the problem.


It’s in your, and my, heart.


The rest are just symbols.

Knocked Down, But Not Out


With Jesus’ time of prayer behind him, we see Him move towards His arrest and ulitmately His crucifixion in John 18. A couple of things stick out to me in this story. One, Jesus is in control of His own schedule. They don’t grab Him while He is praying. He gets up, walks across the valley, and then when they come, He walks out to meet them. He is in charge from the get go. It’s not something that catches Him off guard, or that He resists. He marches directly into the storm. Wow.

Secondly, notice in verse 6 what happens. Jesus asks who they are after, knowing it is Him. It’s dark, and they only have torches. They say they are after Jesus of Nazareth. He answers “I am he.” When He says this, they fall to the ground. Why? “I am He” is the name in Hebrew for God. In Exodus, it’s the name God gives to Moses to tell the people Who sent him. It’s the name the Jews held as holy, and wouldn’t speak or write on their own. It’s the name of God alone. When Jesus, being God, says this phrase which is one of the names of God, it explodes with the Holiness of God. This Holiness knocks the soldiers back and down.

How could they even arrest Him after this? Its an excellent example of how we get so far down our own paths that we ignore God and do the wrong things in the face of His Holiness. I do it from time to time, and have to get knocked on my rear hard to wake up. Its no wonder they missed it.

What about you? Do we really believe God is in control of the storms around us? Will we march into them with Him? Is there something that you are holding onto so tightly that you ignore His overwhelming power and holiness because of it?