“And he appointed his own priests for the high places…” 2 Chronicles 11:15
The human heart will seek what it desires at all cost. It will journey to distant places to secure what drives it. It will endure arduous territory to see its primary drive satisfied. My heart, your heart, all hearts that ever existed, beat to serve themselves. The result of an ages distant couple taking a bite of fruit that was forbidden to them. A rebellious bite that changed every human heart to follow. Our sin nature drives us to regions we dare not tread. Our sin nature drives us to consume what does us evil, speak words of deadly poison to others, and worship at the feet of all that promises us pleasure. So, it is no surprise that we see such human escapades scattered all throughout God’s Word. And as the human heart serves itself, we will always see the slow slide of despondency encroach. In our 2 Chronicles lineage we see King David’s heart, one that beat after God’s, followed by the major fall of his sinful son Solomon. And then we witness the even lower rule of Solomon’s evil son Rehoboam. You see, our family trees spirals into self-service quickly when left to our own hearts. But we see the human heart reach end game in 2 Chronicles 11. Rehoboam denies God, turns His back on the commands of God, and goes His own way. He embraces his own gods and appoints his own priests. He fulfills the sinful desires of his heart to rebel against God by worshiping any other gods besides the one true God. You see, the heart of man seeks to worship a god that gives him the desires of his heart. And he does this by creating his own idols and establishing a priesthood of his own liking, only to bow at their feet. What idols are lurking in your life today? An idol can be defined as anything that creates distance between you and God. An idol can be just about anything…your family, money, sex, Facebook, power, material goods, fame, alcohol, politics, pornography, and yes, even yourself; it’s an endless list. And at the root of all idol worship is pride. What I want is more important than what God wants. Pride was the reason Eve reached for that fruit, and pride was the reason Rehoboam established his own priests. Today, I challenge you to take a careful look at what is being worshiped in your life. What is creating distance between you and Jesus today? What priest have you established in your life that give you the permission to worship those idols? As you are tempted to conform to those idols today, pray to Christ to remove them. Christ alone has the power to redirect your worship to focus on Him and Him alone. For only in the protection of Jesus Christ can the human heart be protected from the greatest evil it will ever face…itself.
“As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart.” Proverbs 27:19
Comments