Word for the day Christian Education Forum

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Tear down Idols, Restore Worship

Bible Reading:   2 Kings 23:1-6

Key verse: Vs 4  He ordered ... to remove from the temple of the Lord all articles made for Baal ...

DEVOTION

King Josiah exists in a fascinating cultural moment. The northern Kingdom of Israel had been conquered by the Assyrian empire and lost their cultural, political and, most importantly, religious identity. The southern Kingdom of Judah, while having escaped being conquered were spiritually in a similar place. The worship of Canaanite gods and idols, including Baal and Asherah abounded while the temple in Jerusalem had fallen into disrepair. The Canaanite culture offered comfortable and more convenient alternatives to the worship of God, ones that helped the Israelites conform. In the same way, we also pick our idols. We find the ones that make us comfortable, that we can turn to when we are struggling, that are convenient, and help us conform to the cultural moment. It can be easy to forget that God has called us to the opposite, to be set apart. Josiah’s restoration started with a return to the word of God and to the covenant that God had made with them, to be set apart only and totally for him. He then follows this with swift action. He removes from the temple everything devoted to other gods and burns them and made sure there was no shrine or alter for the Jewish people to return to their previous ways. We look to the cross for proof of our covenant, that Christ died for our sins and to once again make us joined to him completely in a new covenant. Each of us are naturally drawn to ‘idols’ that distract us from this covenant, whether it’s a person, work, a vice, or simply not allowing enough space for Christ to be the center of our hearts. We can all take up the work of Josiah by returning to God’s word day after day and to be disciplined in spiritual practice that does not allow any latitude for idols or distractions to seep into a space that belongs to God. 
 

PRAYER

Dear God, we praise you for the covenant you restored through your sacrifice on the cross. Forgive us for the ways we have allowed our hearts to fall into disrepair and to become filled with idols. Help us to dwell in a space completely dedicated to and fulfilled by you, free from anything that might distract. Amen. 

 

 

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

“An idol is anything more important to you than God. Anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God. Anything you seek to give you what only God can give. Anything that is so central and essential to your life, that should lose it, your life would feel hardly worth living.” – Tim Keller



Cyril Abraham 
St.Johns Mar Thoma Church

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