Day 171: We Become Like What We Worship

Mark 13:14-37; 1 Kings 7; Hosea 9:1-16

This passage about the coming trouble, about the horrible suffering, I think was written as much for the disciples as it is for each successive generation. The first clue is when Jesus says "Everyone who reads this." He was speaking at the time, and he knew that they would write this down and people would read it in the future. That's why he says that "some people of this generation will still be alive when all this happens." I don't think he is just talking about the disciples. He's talking about (possibly) you and me. And so in talking to us, he warns about false prophets, about terrible suffering, and about being ready. We have to expect all of that every day, because only The Lord knows the time he's coming back and how much persecution we may face.

So reading in 1st Kings about all the stuff that was put into the temple is not the most exciting thing. However, it is good to visualize what this looked like and the purpose it served. All that was done to honor and connect with God. Because they did not have Jesus, they had to perform these rituals to remain on God's good side and remain acceptable to him. Because later generations have Jesus, the separation is broken and we don't need bronze or gold altars for sacrifices. Our hearts are our altar.

In Hosea he warns them about the punishment that God is going to inflict on them. One thing that he says is that the grain and wine will run short. I truly believe that apart from God, we are limited on what we can do, on the blessings we can receive, on the hope we can draw from. Literally in Hosea, it was food, but I think perhaps it applies to our spiritual feeding. When we turn from God, we stop drawing strength and hope and peace from him--they run short. But if we remain in him, we have a never-ending supply of these things.

Later Hosea says that they became as disgusting as the idols they worshiped. Think about people and what they idolize. We become like that which we worship. People who worship bad stuff, in a sense, become "bad"; people who worship destructive things and habits, are destroyed by them and often become destructive themselves; and so when we worship Jesus, we become more like him. So, we need to choose what we worship wisely.