“Joshua said to the people, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says:
Long ago your ancestors, including Terah, the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates River, and they worshiped other gods.”
(Joshua 24:2 NLT)
Wait, did you catch that? Good old Father Abraham began his story with a false god habit! Though scripture credits him with belief counted as righteousness – that isn’t where he began. He walked a journey of faith from Ur to Canaan to Egypt and back to Canaan again before his faith solidified into something foundational enough for the rest of us to stand on.
I’ve long struggled with the presence of idols in the Promised Land. How did they get there, why were they tolerated and engaged with by God followers? The truth is, false gods sneak in; over borders and across bloodlines. Abraham’s forefathers fell before false gods. It’s difficult to delineate from the family tree beliefs. Our spiritual fathers struggled, and honestly, so do we. Idolatry is just as prevalent in our society as it was in the ancient world, only maybe a whole lot more subtle. As we work alongside and make trade agreements with unbelievers, their profane ways permeate our borders. Our mothers and fathers and grandpeople have passed down tokens of their false gods as well; greed, success, fame, self-reliance, pride, appetite and endless entertainment all vie for our prostration. Like Abraham, false gods are in our side yard and at our roots, the way we’ve each begun long before we encountered the One True God.
The fact that Abraham’s epic journey of obedience was counted to him as righteousness erupts bright white hope in my heart. You see, I still struggle with the idols of this world. I still want comfort and ease. I still battle my own tendencies toward control and independence. Each day I wake up and have to haul my idols to the trash again, unwilling to bow to things so much smaller than the One True God. There’s hope though, that this long journey of obedience – this life of mine like Abraham’s – will take me to a place of reliance and authentic worship that I could not arrive on my own. My God, our God, loves us enough to call us to uncomfortable places, places where false gods are proven to be the same deaf, mute blocks and stones they’ve always been. Only the Living God can speak and lead and transform and transcend. Only the Living God directs, sustains and lovingly beckons us Home.
“Then you will destroy all your silver idols and your precious gold images. You will throw them out like filthy rags and say “Good riddance!”
(Isaiah 30:22 NLT)
“So fear the Lord and serve Him wholeheartedly. Put away forever the idols that your ancestors worshiped when they lived beyond theEuphrates River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord alone.” (Joshua 24:13-14 NLT)
Lord, we long to make progress in the area of idolatry. Help us identify our tendency (environmental or ancestral) to bow toward lesser things. Point out our achilles heel and touch it, heal it so we can run with abandon toward You. Amen.