I Samuel 5:3
“When the Ashdodites arose early the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD. So they took Dagon and set him in his place again.”
The Lord will note compete with idols. This verse is a graphic image. The Lord made the idol bow before Him. A few verses later the idol is destroyed. The Lord won’t tolerate us to have idols in our lives.
What is an idol? Anything that competes with the Lord’s place in our lives. It’s one of the Commandments. Jesus put it this way, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me”, (Luke 9:23).
Does this mean we can’t have hobbies or interests? No. However they are to be subservient to Christ. The Holy Spirit will give a nudge when we get out of balance.
The Lord wants to be included in our interests. He wants us to pray about all things. It’s not selfish, but inclusive of Him. Doing this will make our hobbies far more enjoyable. He will begin to use us in and through our hobbies as a blessing to us and others.
Sometimes we pursue things that turn into idols. There may be nothing wrong with the object. We may be out of balance. The bible, our conscience, the Holy Spirit, others and circumstances may seek to warn us. However, we may stubbornly ignore them all.
What happens when we ignore? Psalm 106:15 says, “But he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul.” We may get what we want, but we’ll be miserable.
Now that we’re redeemed, we have a relationship with the Lord that we can sense with joy and connection. By ignoring the Lord, we cut ourselves off from Him. I Thessalonians 5:19 says, “Do not quench the Spirit.” Just as pouring water on a fire quenches or extinguishes it, so our defiance quenches our relationship with Him. The joy evaporates. We begin to miss it and Him. We also grow uncomfortable with the fact the something is between us.
Just as the Lord destroyed the idol in today’s verse, so He get’s rid of them in our lives.
Lord, thank You that You cleanse our lives of idols. Help to to comply an respond quickly.