All that glitters is not gold, although in this case it was. The brilliant reflection of the sun off of the precious metal image may have illuminated its surroundings, but there was a pervading darkness amidst it all that was cause for great concern.
The trouble began with a delay. Things took longer than it seemed they should have, so the popular opinion was that is was time to take things into their own hands.
"When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, "Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don't know what has happened to him." (Exodus 32:1)
In short order, a finely-crafted golden calf was created, a new object of worship made from pilfered Egyptian gold. A lewd party follows the inaugural worship celebration, stirring the wrath of God and the hasty return of an angry Moses. What follows is punishment, death, and destruction. All because of misunderstanding the delay of God in His dealings with His people.
Is this not where trouble often begins in our own lives? The delays of God are misinterpreted as denials, and idolatrous, self-directed decisions are made. We want a swift and decisive vending-machine God, and anything less fuels a desire to create a god in our own image. We're far too sophisticated to create anything so crude as a golden calf, but our impulsive and misguided choices share the same footing with Aaron's golden masterpiece.
God's delays are His design, intended to produce faith and patience - qualities more essential than the intended goal of our pursuit. Our restless efforts in creating our personal golden calves effectively thwart His greater purpose in His delays.
Are there specific areas in your life where God's delays seem agonizingly slow? Remember that His priority is the process, whereas ours is often the goal. His focus is on the development of character; ours is a specific objective that we seek.
God's delays must never divert us to selfish idolatry, but rather to faith and dependency. "Wait for the LORD ; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD" (Psalm 27:14)
Steve
The trouble began with a delay. Things took longer than it seemed they should have, so the popular opinion was that is was time to take things into their own hands.
"When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, "Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don't know what has happened to him." (Exodus 32:1)
In short order, a finely-crafted golden calf was created, a new object of worship made from pilfered Egyptian gold. A lewd party follows the inaugural worship celebration, stirring the wrath of God and the hasty return of an angry Moses. What follows is punishment, death, and destruction. All because of misunderstanding the delay of God in His dealings with His people.
Is this not where trouble often begins in our own lives? The delays of God are misinterpreted as denials, and idolatrous, self-directed decisions are made. We want a swift and decisive vending-machine God, and anything less fuels a desire to create a god in our own image. We're far too sophisticated to create anything so crude as a golden calf, but our impulsive and misguided choices share the same footing with Aaron's golden masterpiece.
God's delays are His design, intended to produce faith and patience - qualities more essential than the intended goal of our pursuit. Our restless efforts in creating our personal golden calves effectively thwart His greater purpose in His delays.
Are there specific areas in your life where God's delays seem agonizingly slow? Remember that His priority is the process, whereas ours is often the goal. His focus is on the development of character; ours is a specific objective that we seek.
God's delays must never divert us to selfish idolatry, but rather to faith and dependency. "Wait for the LORD ; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD" (Psalm 27:14)
Steve
posted by steve @ 7:37 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home