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CONSECRATION
Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
Jesus, I belong to you.
I lift up my heart to you.
I set my mind on you.
I fix my eyes on you.
I offer my body to you as a living sacrifice.
Jesus, we belong to you.
Praying in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen.
THE WORD OF THE LORD
Exodus 20:4–6 ESV
“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
CONSIDER THIS . . .
Let’s talk about how to become a spiritual umbrella.
The first commandment of the Ten Commandments is short and sweet: “Have no other gods before me.”
In giving the second commandment, however, it seems the Lord knows we need a bit more explanation.
An idol is an image of a spiritual being. In the Bible, these spiritual beings are sometimes called “gods”; today, we might call them “fallen angels” or “demons.”
It’s interesting that when God’s faithful servants—his angels—show up in the Bible, the first reaction of their human interlocutors is to prostrate themselves in terror, which is why angels always say, “Don’t be afraid.”
For example, there’s that great scene in Revelation, John the visionary falls on his face before the angel, the angel hurriedly rebukes him and tells him to get up!
I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.” (22:8–9)
Here, with the second commandment in Exodus 20, the Israelites are specifically told not to make idols of anything in the universe because there is only one Lord who made everything else, including the spiritual beings. To worship the created rather than the Creator is idolatry and will always lead to spiritual slavery.
In Genesis 1, we are told that people are made in God’s image. This is the reason why we ought not make idols, because the Lord has already made us in his image. If we worship idols, we are actually diminishing ourselves and failing to live as fully human. We are, in effect, giving the glory that the Lord has uniquely bestowed on us over to dark powers for whom that glory was not meant.
Although the occult is sadly on the rise in modern America, most of us are probably not in danger of creating literal idols in the way the Israelites were. Nevertheless, the second commandment is a grave warning against being pulled into idolatry. What the Lord tells us is that sin in one generation will have effects on our grandchildren and even our great-grandchildren. And, we know from experience that this is true, sin in families affects multiple generations. Idolatry is believing and then living as if anything other than the Lord alone is the source of life. And that sin has grievous consequences.
And yet look at the effect that faithfulness will have: One life of obedience will be the means by which the Lord will cover a thousand generations with grace! If we are faithful now, our actions can be a covering for those who will come after us.
Look at Abraham—his faithful obedience to the Lord is still having its gracious effect today.
Your actions matter!
So, this is how to be what I am calling a spiritual umbrella: The act of rooting out idolatry in one’s life—acknowledging where we have given our worship to created things rather than to the Creator—will have great effects on the people around you and the people after you.
You’ll be like a spiritual umbrella, offering spiritual covering to other people.
What a beautiful image—God using my faithfulness to offer covering and protection to others.
Which, of course, is what Jesus has done for all who trust in him.
PRAYER
Lord, search me and know me and see if there is any wicked way in me. As I am praying, draw to my mind an idol of my life. Convict me of my error and then free me from this sin. Lord, make me into a spiritual umbrella. Use me to offer blessing and covering to others, in Jesus’s name. Amen.
JOURNAL PROMPTS
- Idols are subtle things. Are there certain places in your life where you are more prone to make idols than others? Why?
- How have you seen idolatry in one generation have a deleterious effect on the following generation?
- Are there faithful people in your family who have had a positive effect on those who came after them? Specifically, thank God for them today.
SING
Today, we will sing “O Worship the King” (Hymn 11) from the Seedbed hymnal, Our Great Redeemer’s Praise.
For the Awakening,
Andrew Forrest
Andrew Forrest is the senior pastor of Asbury Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Raised in West Africa and Virginia, he is a third-generation pastor and church planter. He blogs at AndrewForrest.org.
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3 Responses
Your actions matter. Act in Father Alliance, Christ Reliance, and Spirit-Compliance.
* Father Alliance is to always seek to surrender to and align your life with the will of God the Father. (Matthew 6:33)
* Christ Reliance is to daily depend on the risen Jesus–God the Son–instead of on your own power. (Colossians 1:27)
* Spirit Compliance is to consistently think, say, and do what God the Holy Spirit says instead of what you want to. (John 16:13)
I have seen the generational brokenness still carry impact in today’s generation. I believe the word where it says that is the case. But how do we square that up with each person having the opportunity to choose Jesus and have a personal relationship? In that decision, should confession and repentance of our own sin and the generational sins be included ?
It’s heartbreaking to see the generational sins be passed down… I’m thinking particularly of sexual sins that run in families- molestation, incest, adultery. Additionally, sins of addiction- the cycle seems to get stronger with each generation. Some brave soul has to take a stand and say, “no more. This is stopping with me”, then turn to Jesus.
I appreciate Andrew’s enthusiasm and incite on Exodus!
It would be helpful to me (and two sisters within our band group) to have him pause occasionally to give a few seconds letting a thought soak in… even in the consecration portion.
I’m looking forward to reading Love Goes First!