July 14th

Today's reading from the One Year Bible Chronological Reading Plan is Psalm 128-130; 132; 134; & 135.

Commentaries
Our Hope: The Character of God (Psalm 130)
The Pleasure of God in All That He Does (Psalm 135) - John Piper

Scripture
Psalm 135:15-18 The idols of the nations are silver and gold, made by the hands of men. They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but they cannot see; they have ears, but cannot hear, nor is there breath in their mouths. Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them. (emphasis mine)

Observation
People who worship idols are as blind/deaf as the idols themselves. And we become like the idols we worship.

Application
We will become like what we worship.

We can tell what we worship by evaluating what we spend our time, money and energy on. Where are our priorities? What is important to us? Not what we say is important to us - but what we live out. What are our goals? What do we value?

Our walk doesn't always match our talk. When the two don't line up, the walk is what we genuinely believe. Talk is cheap.

What you spend your money on, what you expend your energy on, what you invest your time in - that shows where your priorities are, what your idols are.

And, slowly, in time, we begin to resemble the things we worship, the things we prioritize.

This is, of course, good news and bad news - depending what we worship. If we are worshiping God, we will become more like Him as we worship Him. Unfortunately, the reverse is also true.

It reminds me of a poster I once had up in my room that said "Practice makes perfect. So be careful what you practice."

Prayer
Lord, we praise You for being the One True God. All glory and honour and praise to Your holy name. We know that any other god is a false, worthless imitation created by fallen humanity. Help us to honestly evaluate our priorities and to be purposeful in what we spend our time, energy and money on. We know that we become like that which we worship - we want to worship You, we want to become more like You. Help us to study Your Word daily, to meditate on it, to spend time in prayer and communion with You, and to invest in the lives of those around us for Your glory. Amen.

Tomorrow's passage: Psalm 136, 146-150