11.6.13

Ezekiel 9:17-19 You took the very jewels and gold and silver ornaments I had given you and made statues of men and worshiped them.  This is adultery against me! You used the beautifully embroidered clothes I have you to dress your idols.  Then you used my special oil and my incense to worship them.  Imagine it! You set before them as a sacrifice the choice flour, olive oil, and honey I had given you, says the Sovereign Lord.

My Thoughts
Verse 23 says, "What sorrow awaits you, says the Sovereign Lord. In addition to all your other wickedness,  you built a pagan shrine and put alters to idols in every town square.

What all do we do this with today?  I think of stars having their hand prints in the sidewalk...of collages putting up statues of their sports hero's  and of Washington putting up statues to great presidents.  I thought of us spreading out a wonderful meal in front of the TV to watch our favorite teams play and of all the wonderful smells of food surrounding a football stadium by the tailgaters.  I though of how much pomp and circumstance we give so many things and then ponder on Sundays if we will go to Church or stay home.  How many times do we miss worshiping God because we stayed up late to watch "the game." I couldn't help but wonder what God thinks of all of that!!  It actually made my heart sad... the thought has truly brought tears to my eyes this morning.

God has given us so very much... so much of what He has given us gives us more time...yet we spend less and less time with God. I think of how much I have grown in the past 4 years by getting up each morning and reading my Bible and I feel proud of myself...but today I think... what if at night I gave up one more TV show and read that much more of God's word? I would have grown even more!!  

I have heard it said that if we are too busy to make time for God then we are way too busy.  So often we spend our days looking for a minutes peace...when peace would come in spending time with God.  Each night I look forward to settling in and turning on the TV for a couple of hours... a whole couple of hours of peace... have I neglected God in the process... have I made TV an idol?  It seems that I need to adjust my life a little more... I can see this as frustrating...as giving up something I enjoy... or I can see this as a wonderful chance to find more peace, to know God more, to grow my joy.... there are so many moments in my day where I have the chance for this.. yet I pass them up.  I have a couple of changes I need to make... I am sure there is more than a couple...but I can at least start with a couple and go from there.... I want so God to smile down on me....