Harboring Other Gods?

Harboring Other Gods?

We may be harboring false gods and not know it.

Deuteronomy 4:15-19

“Therefore watch yourselves very carefully. Since you saw no form on the day that the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, beware lest you act corruptly by making a carved image for yourselves, in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female, the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air, the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, or the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth. And beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, you be drawn away, and bow down to serve them, things the LORD your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven.”

Exodus 20:23

“You shall not make gods of silver to be with me, nor shall you make for yourselves gods of gold.”

1 John 5:21

During their many dalliances with false gods and pagan forms of worship, the people of Israel never completely abandoned the God of their redemption. They simply added other deities “with” the Lord and created other forms and venues of worship besides those which God had ordained.

Many contemporary Christians are clinging to the gods of this world—work, wealth, pleasure, convenience, ease—while, at the same time, faithfully participating in the worship of the one true God. They may not even recognize that these worldly concerns are as important to them as anything that has to do with their faith. Yet the “god which consists of this world” (2 Cor. 4:4, my translation; cf. Rom. 1:18ff.) can blind an unguarded believer just as surely as it blinds those who do not know the Lord.

Examine yourself: Are you harboring other gods, looking to things other than God Himself for the hope, joy, peace, meaning, and significance you require?

Order a copy of The Law of God from our online store and begin daily reading in the commandments, statutes, testimonies, precepts, and rules of God, which are the cornerstone of divine revelation. Sign up at our website to receive our thrice-weekly devotional, Crosfigell, written by T. M. Moore.

–

In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore, editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001, 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.