I had a dream last night that a woman who was not my wife attached herself to me, and everyone I knew, church members included, were okay with it. It was someone everyone was familiar with, and they seemed to even, at times, encourage the relationship (whatever the relationship was, that was unclear). A second woman then became involved, and everyone did not trust her, warned me about her, and even reviled me for having an association with her. To say I woke up confused and a bit disturbed is an understatement. I do everything I can to protect myself and others reputations, even going so far as to not meet with another woman unless my wife is present!
I prayed about what it could mean, and during my prayer time, got distracted by a notification on my phone. That distraction led me away from my prayer time, and I did not get that time back, as the Sunday Morning demands of being a preacher began to call me. That’s when it hit me: I have an acceptable idol in my pocket. Near everyone approves because nearly everyone, in some way shape or form, shares the same distraction I do. So many of us waste time on phones, tablets and other devices, surfing the internet, swiping through social media, watching videos and more. Throughout the Old Testament, God compares such idolatries to adultery. There are some things that I would be rightly chastised for if I participated in them. Yet, if it is an activity that nearly everyone else is doing, wouldn’t such adulteries be considered acceptable?
I’m not saying phones, tablets and computers are evil: they are tools, no more, no less. And yet we’ve allowed them to invade every single aspect of our lives. We invite others to get addicted with us, and don’t bat an eye. We trade relationships with God and others for “social” media, and end up isolating ourselves from the world, even as we broadcast every single activity we do. Even so, when we allow this, we are committing adultery against God because something else holds our affections from a jealous God who will not share us with anyone or anything. And God’s jealousy is righteous, because He knows that everything else that steals our affections draws us away from what is Best, and He, our Designer, Maker and Father knows what is best for us. So ask yourself: is there an “acceptable adultery” you may be participating in? What is holding you back from your relationship to Christ? For me, and, perhaps, for you, it’s time to end all such relationships.
Exodus 20:1-6
And God spoke all these words, saying,
“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.
“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands[b] of those who love me and keep my commandments.”
2 Corinthians 11:1-15
I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear with me! For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough. Indeed, I consider that I am not in the least inferior to these super-apostles. Even if I am unskilled in speaking, I am not so in knowledge; indeed, in every way we have made this plain to you in all things.
Or did I commit a sin in humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached God's gospel to you free of charge? I robbed other churches by accepting support from them in order to serve you. And when I was with you and was in need, I did not burden anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my need. So I refrained and will refrain from burdening you in any way. As the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine will not be silenced in the regions of Achaia. And why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do!
And what I am doing I will continue to do, in order to undermine the claim of those who would like to claim that in their boasted mission they work on the same terms as we do. For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.
Comentarios