SCRIPTURE: Judges 18
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
They continued to use the idols Micah had made, all the time the house of God was in Shiloh. [Judges 18:31] This last verse summarizes the problem in Israel: the people ignored the presence of God among them (the tabernacle) and dishonoured God by worshipping idols. The first commandment, You shall have no other gods before me [Exodus 20:3] literally says no other gods ‘before my face’. They were sinning right in God’s face, with His presence among them. Its like having an affair in front of your spouse, or stealing from a friends house while he is there.

But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, ‘Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.’ He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it. [John 12:4-6] Jesus is ‘God with us’; Judas was before the face of God. Here he is stealing from the money that was intended for Jesus. Seeing these two stories together, we see that the people of Dan, like Judas, were betraying the God that had saved them.

Calling oneself a Christian (or Jesus-follower, or church-goer), and yet willingly dishonouring God and Jesus by our actions, is an act of betrayal. Jesus died and rose again to save us from selfish, greedy and immoral living. Why would we willingly doing these things in His face? When the situation gets to the point where ‘church’ people can practice immorality without remorse or sincere repentance, we know that we have reached the same point as Israel in the days of the Judges.

What are the idols I carry with me as I stand before the Lord? What selfish attitudes or behaviours do I tolerate, that Jesus died for? What shameful things am I thinking or doing in His face? Do I see this, as the author of Hebrews puts it, as trampling Jesus under my feet, treating His blood as worthless, and insulting the Spirit of grace?

This is something to think about every time I approach the Lord in prayer – what shameful idols am I bringing in His presence, before His face?

PRAYER:
Lord, You are reminding me of some of my shameful idols. Help me to repent, and open my heart to You!