No False gods

 DEVOTION

1^ST SAMUEL

NO FALSE GODS

1 Samuel 7:1-6

7:1 So the men of Kiriath Jearim came and took up the ark of the LORD. They took it to Abinadab's house on the hill and consecrated Eleazar his son to guard the ark of the LORD. 2 It was a long time, twenty years in all, that the ark remained at Kiriath Jearim, and all the people of Israel mourned and sought after the LORD. 3 And Samuel said to the whole house of Israel, "If you are returning to the LORD with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths and commit yourselves to the LORD and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines." 4 So the Israelites put away their Baals and Ashtoreths, and served the LORD only. 5 Then Samuel said, "Assemble all Israel at Mizpah and I will intercede with the LORD for you." 6 When they had assembled at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out before the LORD. On that day they fasted and there they confessed, "We have sinned against the LORD." And Samuel was leader of Israel at Mizpah.

NIV

We wonder why the Israelites took on those false gods when they must have known their history with the LORD. Samuel told them that if they were returning to the LORD with all their hearts, then they needed to rid themselves of all the foreign gods they had. What good is a foreign god, whatever it is made of, stone, silver, wood, or gold, it was fashioned by the hands of men, and it has no eyes to see, ears to hear, or mouth to speak. All foreign gods are worthless, without value or meaning, unless they are made with silver or gold, then it is just the metal that might be worth something. We are fortunate that we do not own any false gods, as we have committed our whole hearts to the Lord our God and Savior. Yet could we have created anything we might have either replaced the Lord with or added to the Lord? We have heard some say, “Jesus plus,” and that would be something added or our interpretation of scripture, or our imagination of the scripture. How can we add anything or anyone to Jesus? Some believe it is Jesus plus baptism that saves us. Could it be possible that some have added works to Jesus, so then it would be Jesus plus works that make us worthy of salvation, or at least, worthy to be called a Christian. Surely, we could not say that works are a foreign god, but works might be a result of our committing our whole heart to the Lord. However, we might also get too wrapped up in our works that we think they are more important than loving the Lord with all our mind, soul, spirit, and strength. If that happens, maybe our works or good deeds have become a false god. We also should be cognizant of how much value we put in the things of this world, or all the material things we have gathered onto ourselves for either our own pleasure, or security. Have we replaced or added to our trust in the Lord with trusting in the world’s system for providing for our sustenance or our future security? The Apostle James tells us we should not make those types of plans for where we live and how much money we make, without first determining if it is the Lord’s will. Everything about us, everything within us, should be all about our Lord, and his will, his plan for our lives. Of course, we need to live out our daily lives, doing what we are called and empowered to do. However, let us not get too distracted by life itself, that we leave Jesus out of our hearts and minds, even if for a brief moment, while we become enthralled with ourselves, our education, knowledge, position or title, or even works, all of which are counterintuitive to humility.  We can never allow any false god around us.