Now is the time...... To Stop

Why arouse my anger by burning incense to the idols you have made in Egypt? You will only destroy yourselves...... Jeremiah 44:8

Recently I had to walk past a shop advertising psychic readings and other 'new age' things. The smell of incense almost knocked me over and the door wasn't even open. I can't imagine how people breathed inside the shop!

Incense seems to have become a vogue thing to have in one's home but because it is so commonly tied to the new age world I wouldn't think of buying it even though it is not wrong in itself. I can think of plenty of other ways of making my home smell good. It is sad that incense has this kind of connotation nowadays because it was widely used in the worship of God under the old covenant and some churches still use it today. It is yet another 'God thing' that Satan has hijacked for his own purposes.

The children of Israel in the reading today were by this time in Egypt and had taken on the worship of foreign gods, a practice that had angered God because, as he told them, it would destroy them. God had commanded them to worship him only, he was their protector, provider and they had been warned many times of the consequence of idol worship. They did not listen.

I am fairly sure that no one reading this will be burning incense to idols, but we may have idols in our lives which pose as harmless yet hinder our relationship with God and can destroy us if we don't listen to the Holy Spirit's warnings. What kind of things could these idols be? Perhaps relationships that are not healthy for us, too much television, over- indulgence in food or alcohol, sport or other past times. Even our work or ministry can become an idol if it steals time from us developing our relationship with God by spending time in studying God's word and prayer, having fellowship with other believers, serving in the church or other parts of God's Kingdom.

It is always good to stop and take stock of our lives every now and again. It may be that we are heading down the track of making some legitimate thing an idol in our lives. Let's allow the Holy Spirit to speak to our hearts today and let Jesus really be Lord of our lives. Let's pray the prayer that David prayed in Psalm 139:23-24

Prayer: Search me O God, try me and see if there is any wicked way in me and lead me in the path that leads to life. Amen