Have you ever let a “good” thing become a “god” thing? Note the case - I mean a little “g”god. Well, I have. The older I get and the more that I learn, it becomes VERY easy to worship the created instead of the Creator behind it...
God gives us gifts and talents and wisdom from experiences so that we might live a life worthy of His glory, but sometimes it’s easy to rely on those things for success rather than on The One who gave them to us.
King Asa fell into that same idolatry trap. He literally cleansed his land of idols & even deposed his grandmother from her position as queen mother because of her “obscene” idol worship. (See v 16)
As he grew in knowledge & wisdom however, he began to “rely” on himself rather than call on the big-G God who got him there.
When a prophet called him out, reminding Asa of his former success due to God’s intervention, Asa’s heart hardened. He didn’t want to hear it so even unto his deathbed, “...he did not seek the Lord’s help but turned only to a physicians.”
I mentioned it briefly yesterday, but the good things of God can become “god” things if we are not careful.
I am a gifted strategist & organizer, but the underbelly of that, control & manipulation, rear their ugly heads when I rely of the gift rather than The Giver Who gave it. I also can budget with the best of them, but I can rob myself of generosity when I rely on the budget more than The One who provided the funds TO budget.
We need be careful of moments when we are tempted to say, “I got it.” That is when we begin to rely on ourselves more than our God who longs for us to lean on Him. It guards us from blinding pride that keeps us from asking for help.
We all have good things in our lives because we have a God who puts the good in them...it is only when we misuse or ab-use the gift that it quickly begins to lose its goodness.
Lord, keep our eyes on You, the Creator of all things good..Holy Spirit, guard us from pride that tempts us to proclaim the lie that we’ve got it. Truth is, we’ve got nothing without You. Let us rely on You alone. May the words of our mouths & meditations of our hearts proclaim your goodness, our Rock and our Redeemer!
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