Ezekiel_8
Scripture - What stood out?Ezekiel 8:6 And he said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing—the utterly detestable things the Israelites are doing here, things that will drive me far from my sanctuary? But you will see things that are even more detestable.”Observation - What does it say?Ezekiel 8 is a very detailed description of a vision of God that the prophet Ezekiel had. The focus of this chapter is idol worship. The idol of jealousy, personal idols, sun worship, the mourning of the false god Tammuz are all mentioned in this vision.Although this is a description of the spiritual state of the nation of Judah, and an extreme one at that, this is also an apt description of what goes on inside our own hearts where today - post Jesus - the temple of God resides. Cue the run on sentences!Understanding - What does it mean?I really wish I could post the entire chapter as my scripture portion. When I read this chapter I knew I was reading about actual idols being worshiped at that time in history, but I was really forced to ask myself again, “Ken, are you replacing God with anything in your life right now?” That is my working definition of idol worship today. Most of us don’t worship other gods outright anymore. Not in this country anyway. What we do instead is replace God with other things that in no way shape or form are anywhere near as dangerous as actual idols...right? I am talking to myself here. Seriously.And then there is this verse from the same chapter: 16 He then brought me into the inner court of the house of the Lord, and there at the entrance to the temple, between the portico and the altar, were about twenty-five men. With their backs toward the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east, they were bowing down to the sun in the east.Here is another gut check. These 25 men were in the inner court of the house of God, and they still chose to turn their backs on him and worship the sun! Can you imagine that? And so of course I had to ask myself…”What am I doing currently, inside my own heart (the current-day temple of God) where I have turned my back on God as I turn to glorify and worship something else.Life Application - How can I apply this to my life today?
God help me to identify areas of my life that I knowingly or unknowingly keep from you. Whatever I have labelled as “none of God’s concern” may I turn that over to you. Help me to grab hold of all the things that I have placed above you - jealousies, hurts, worries, sorrows, ambitions, lusts - and put them in their rightful place, far away from your number one spot in my heart. Help me today to identify one area of my life that I have placed above you somehow and help me to lay it before you today. In Jesus’s name do I pray. Amen.
DSC Spiritual Self Assessment here I come: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSezlwe6OuiXZ0imUj_T1vlxluYNKigWtTwSLLV5jW-5TjFFNQ/viewform
-kenneth lee