Cast the Golden Calf Aside
"He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt." -- Exodus 32:4
The Israelites were quite a handful. Moses went up the mountain to speak with God. He was gone 40 days and 40 nights. God gave him instructions for His people, including the Ten Commandments. In the meantime, the people got tired of waiting for Moses to return. So they got into trouble. Sound familiar? It's what children do when they're left to their own devices for too long.
This wasn't just mischief though. They whined. And whined. They were good at that. Aaron got tired of it and decided to take matters into his own hands. Bad mistake. When irritated or tempted to head down a wrong path, consult God. Always. It will save so much agony later. Aaron did things his way. He told the Israelites to turn in their gold earrings. Then he had all that gold made into a calf that the Israelites could worship. Oops! It didn't matter that he called it a festival to God. Nope. God is not a gold calf. He is a living God. And He was not pleased.
Well, we think, we would certainly never do that. Ha ha ha. Imagine worshiping a gold calf. Us? No way. We're too smart for that. Yeah. Right. So you played golf last Sunday with a business associate rather than go to church. You couldn't afford to give God a tithe but you could afford payments on that expensive SUV. You didn't have time to volunteer at the homeless shelter but you had time for a long weekend at the beach.
Isn't that the same thing as worshiping a gold calf? You're placing things, your lifestyle, your economic status, above God. That you don't do it consciously doesn't change the fact that you do it. We all do at one time or another. But it isn't right. God created us for His glory, to do His will. Somehow I don't think His will involves putting Him on the backburner of our life.
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