Idols or Jesus

DEVOTION

THE BOOK OF ACTS

IDOLS OR JESUS

Acts 17:29-31

29 "Therefore since we are God's offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone — an image made by man's design and skill. 30 In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. 31 For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead."

NIV

A time is coming and it is when God decides and has absolutely nothing to do what is going on in the world. Yes we have been given some indications when certain things happen it might be close, but in all actually we have no idea at all when that day will happen. He has already set the date, it is not in response to what we do, but it is because he set it. We also see here we should not be ignorant. We should know better than to make any form of an idol in our lives, especially of gold and silver and stone. Now that certainly could apply to those people who actually had statues of those materials, but today we do not do statues, so gold, silver and stone, as in gems, diamonds, rubies, emeralds and the like could be consider as an idol if we put too much of our faith in then for our lives than we do God. Certainly we cannot judge the motions or the lives of others, but we have to examine our own life and make sure we do not have such idols as these. We need to always be ready for that day when God has appointed. We would certainly think that because we have accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior we have been saved and this judgment is for those who never repented. He will judge whether or not we have or have not repented and accepted Jesus. But does that give us the freedom to live in any manner, or still put our faith in gold and silver and gems to sustain our lives? We must always know it is God and God alone who sustains our lives. Yes we need to work for our income, but we should not even believe our income is due to our grand efforts, but it is because God sustains us. We are who we are, and where we are and when we are because God determined it so. Now whether we acknowledge that in our lives, he has left that up to us and at the day he has appointed he will judge every soul as to having acknowledged Jesus or not. Some may prefer to have idols but as far as this believer is concerned Jesus is everything. We cannot have both, it is either idols or Jesus.