Idols among us

I was listening to the radio the other day and they told a story of a man from the Philippines. This man had found Christ, and as a result realized the spirits that he was saving a chicken to sacrifice too were not real. So he shot it and he and his family feasted. The thought I had was complex, but I will get to that. My question is simple as to his plight: Why oh why would he sacrifice to the spirits his prized chicken while him and his family went hungry?

Because that is what he knew, how he was taught and raised. That is the culture in some parts of the world.

Now that kind of thinking is foreign to us here in America, our culture discarded this thinking a long time ago. We have the Christ the Son of God who sacrificed all for us so we don't HAVE to sacrifice to Him. Here in the good ole U S of A, God and Deity is an after thought something we do if we have time. In other places it's their life, their focus is on spirits and gods and religion. Whereas, we have the TRUE Salvation and we have been lulled to sleep.

We have taken materials, hobbies and money as our god. That Is what we sacrifice to/for. that is what we are devoted to. We sacrifice time, family, our all to our entertainment our "lifestyle" our wants.

Exodus 20:3-5
3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:

5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

Now this was the thought I had. We do not in this day and age here in America make graven images to bow down to. Now we find the thought of bowing down to anything let alone making a god out of tree dirt or metal silly, But in an insidious manner we have allowed things to overtake their place. I personally love the NFL I watch every game every chance I get. With others it may be money, family, hobbies, or whatever.

So now to what does this lead us to?

In all seriousness we must put aside all the computer games tv videos ipods etc.... these take all of our time and focus. We must devote our time to the only thing worthwhile. What we do for our and others eternity. Stop entertaining ourselves into blissful ignorance. It is time for us to awaken to the real fulfillment of service. I am not saying it is wrong to watch tv or the NFL or any of this other stuff. But at no time should we allow it to be our focus.

Sunday morning and evening hundreds of thousands get up and go to football games yet churches are empty. Pews are bare and the choir is half full. In a lot of cases the Sunday evening and Wednesday evening services are non-existent.

2 Chronicles 7:14
14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Without revival in our hearts family churches states and country we are destined to follow the paths set in history of all the great nations before us. We WILL fall.