When you read the Old Testament, do you ever notice that the Israelites just could not stay on track! They just couldn’t do only God! They always kept the high-places where they could go to worship other gods. Even when godly kings came along and tried to get the people back on track, the high-places still remained and the people still clung to their idols.
Even while these people were worshipping the Lord, they were serving their idols. – 2 Kings 17:41
But before we shake our heads at how wrong the Israelites were for holding on to these high-places and the idols they worshipped there, we should look at our own lives. Have we gotten rid of the high-places we’ve erected to worship the idols in our lives? Or are we giving some of our worship to the One True God then slipping away to “high-places” to worship other gods?
Do we give a little bit of our time to God when we remember to pray and read the Bible, but sacrifice most of it at the high-places of smartphones and Netflix?
Do we give a little bit of our money to God if we have cash when the offering plate is passed around, but sacrifice most of it to idols that have no eternal value?
Do we give a few of our talents serving God if it doesn’t take us out of our comfort zone, but sacrifice most of them to the high-places of missed opportunities?
What kind of lesson are we passing down to the next generation if we let them think that God is okay with sharing our worship? How will they give God the primary spot in their lives if they see us squeezing Him in where we can fit Him? How will they understand that God alone deserves our worship if they see us worshipping the idols of this world? The next generation is learning how to live the Christian life by watching those of us that have gone before them, and the lessons they learn from us will be the lessons they pass down.
To this day their children and grandchildren continue to do as their fathers did. – 2 Kings 17:41
It is time to demolish the high places and destroy the idols that take our worship away from the One True God. It is time to make God first in our lives and to give Him the best, not just what’s left. God has given us so much more than the worldly idols we cling to ever can. How can we give anything less than our best to Him?
