i have a whoring heart

so it seems that you don't have to look very hard these days to find a celebrity sex scandal. (and i don't think it's necessary for me to post links to make that point...) while it is highly disappointing (especially when it's the team i like or the guy from the show i like or the sport i play), as a christian who understands the nature of sin and the universal effects of the fall, it is not really all that surprising. and for God? definitely not...

i was reading Numbers 15:37-41 about putting tassels on robes as a reminder to obey God's law and "not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes, which you are inclined to whore after." God KNOWS my inclination!!! (and gives a pretty creative way to fight it)

we've been talking a lot recently in sunday school class about Colossians 1:15-20 where paul is listing characteristics of Christ: God, creator, sustainer, ruler, purpose, reconciler, etc... these are the glasses i need to keep on to have a clear view of the world, but i tend to neglect and forget them. this is the message which i need to be proclaiming with my lips and with my life. too often, however, i act like the king and purpose of my existence. too often, i whore after my own passions and pleasures... after other little gods...

so if you see me with tassels or like ernie with strings on my fingers, know that i am trying to remember, because God knows that my proclivity is to forget!
keep me mindful of You, O Lord! keep me ever in Your Word and Your Word in me! may i love and long for the means of grace and be faithful to them! may i be a reminder for others and may others remind me of You!



btw - HERE is a great sermon on the colossians 1 passage!

who is your God? what are your idols?

here are some verses i sent in an email august 30, 2000 (the title comes from an advertisement for an old mortal album... i recently read the book counterfeit gods by tim keller which fits in with the theme as well - and which i'd highly recommend)

Psalm 119:113
i hate double-minded men, but i love your law.

2 Chronicles 25:2
he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, BUT NOT WHOLEHEARTEDLY.

Joshua 24:14-15
now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. but if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, WE WILL SERVE THE LORD.

1 Kings 18:21
elijah went out before the people and said, "how long will you waver between two opinions? if the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him." but the people said nothing.

2 Kings 17:38-41
"do not forget the covenant i have made with you, and do not worship other gods. rather, worship the Lord your God; it is he who will deliver you from the hand of all your enemies." they would not listen, HOWEVER, but persisted in their former practices. EVEN WHILE these people were worshiping the Lord, they were serving their idols. to this day their children and grandchildren continue to do as their fathers did.

Matthew 6:24
NO ONE can serve two masters. either he will HATE the one and LOVE the other, or he will be DEVOTED to the one and DESPISE the other. you cannot serve both God and Money.


- think 'em through... and remember:

Psalm 24:6
such is the generation of those who seek Him, who seek your face, O God of Jacob.