Deeper in Worshipਨਮੂਨਾ

Day 2–Worship God alone and reject all idols

Devotional
There are some things that God makes really clear in scripture, and one of them is His anger at idols. You can see this described in Psalm 115 (NIV) and the first two of the Ten Commandments. It is unlikely that you will have a golden calf in your kitchen, but idols are anything or anyone that can take the place of God in your life. An idol could be your job or ministry; it could be a pastime or even a piece of technology. If it takes the place of God in your life, this psalm says (Psalms 115:5-7 NIV) that it has no real power to make your life better. In fact, if you trust in it, you will become like it (Psalms 115:8 NIV). Humanity does not have the answers to its problems. Only God does. If, however, you reject idols and trust in the Lord, he will be your "help and shield." This is so important that the psalm repeats it three times (Psalms 115:9-11 NIV). This is also why the first two of the Ten Commandments are about rejecting other gods and idols. These are strong words, but God recognises the tendency to keep going back to trusting what we can make ourselves. He wants you to follow Him only.

Prayer
Father, I trust in You and You alone. I reject any idols in my life, whatever they are, and ask that You would be my help and shield in all ways. Amen.

Application
Take some time to think through what are (or could be) idols for you, and how you can reject them. Then sing a song of surrender to God! Perhaps create a playlist of similar songs to remind you to keep setting aside idols and surrendering to God.

David Oliver