July 19 - Religious Smorgasbord

 Read today’s texts first: 2 Kings 17; 2 Chronicles 28; Psalms 46; James 3

MAXIMize YOUR DAY

A smorgasbord of idolatry is
always toxic and eventually deadly.

Jan and I recently experienced a luxurious Mediterranean cruise. Part of the reality of the real world we returned to was making our own meals again, which was a difficult adjustment from the endless buffets we enjoyed on our cruise ship. Who doesn’t love a variety of foods to suit fleeting fancies at any hour of the day? That thought sets the backdrop for our readings today, but instead of food, the smorgasbord was religion!

Over six hundred years earlier God set His people free from enslavement in Egypt. Ironically, those refining fires of adversity forced them together as a community and forged a pure faith in their God. They did this in secret, in fear for their lives, while the Egyptians all around them worshipped many gods. God miraculously delivered them and provided for them. They became the great nation of Israel, blessed with their own prosperous land and the freedom to openly worship the God who made it all possible. Instead, they turned their backs on Him to embrace the worthless man-made gods of the nations who once fled in terror from the God of Israel (17:15-17).

Wisely, God brought them back to their former state of captivity, this time to Assyria, to help them regroup as a nation and rediscover their faith in Him. It would take a while, and it would get worse before it got better. The Assyrians sent their own people and those from other enslaved nations into the cities of Israel, who then introduced their gods into what was already a multi-faith culture (17:29-33).

Sound familiar? It bears a remarkable resemblance to our land in our day. God’s people arrived in North America to set up our nations with founding principles and laws based on Judeo-Christian values. God blessed us and the rest of the world took notice. But lately, as we began to question our founding faith, we opened ourselves to man-made idols, some home-grown, others imported. Immigrants from other nations offered their interesting array of designer gods to help us prepare the veritable smorgasbord of idolatry we have today.

Unlike the buffets on our cruise ship, which may have been excessive and a tad unhealthy, idolatry is always toxic and eventually deadly. The politically correct tolerance of our day seems to embrace every faith but Christianity. Bibles were thrown out of public schools and replaced with yoga mats. Christ was dropped from Christmas and many now consult the stars for daily direction instead of the Star Maker (17:16).

“Lord, as Jan and I return to simple, healthy meals together I pray for that same simplicity in our diet of spiritual food, based solely on You and Your Word.” Taste and see that the Lord is good (Psalms 34:8).