At our weekly staff meeting this morning, our Lead Pastor took us to a place of personal examination that I think is worth repeating and expanding.  He drew from a passage in 2 Kings 18. Speaking of King Hezekiah, the writer said, “He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David had done. He removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it.”

If you are not familiar with the story, in Numbers 21 the people of Israel were once again complaining about their time in the wilderness.  God had recently delivered them from years of harsh slavery in Egypt, but now they remembered it as “the good old days.”  The spoke out against God and Moses and God released a horde of venomous snakes against them.  Many were dying from the snake bites so the people went to Moses and repented of their sin.  God told Moses to craft a bronze pole with a snake on it and those who would look upon the pole would be healed.  As time passed, the Israelites placed the staff in the archives of the temple.  Originally, the bronze pole was a symbol of God’s mercy, but eventually it had become an object of worship – as if the power of healing was in the object itself.  So…Hezekiah destroyed it along with all the other idols he could find in Israel.

God is serious about idols. Exodus 20 declares, “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. ⁵ You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments” (Ex. 20:4-6). 

The scripture reveals that idol worship constitutes hatred toward God and is so serious that the consequences of that idolatry can be passed down in family lines for generations.  The other thing revealed in these passages is that what once was  a blessing that pointed us to the goodness of God, can become an idol that takes the place of God. 

Sometimes a career that was given as a blessing by God, becomes an idol.  We can give it the majority of our time and attention and we draw our significance and security from the job rather than God.  Children can become idols in our lives as we give them and their activities priority over our relationship with God.  We exchange worship in church for soccer fields or volleyball courts.  Of course, we rationalize the idolatry by thinking of it as only a season that will pass.  We will get back to God once the season is over.  How often have we seen single adults place a romantic relationship ahead of their relationship with God because, at the moment, it actually means more to them than God does.  Even in church, we can begin to place our faith in a pastor or in the church itself, rather than God.  There are numerous “good things” that like the bronze snake, can become idols in our lives.

We need to remember, however, that God is a jealous God.  In his love for us, he will try to turn us away from the idol and back to him.  He may discipline us or take away the very thing we have begun to value more than God.  This isn’t an ego trip on God’s part, but he is jealous for our souls.  Idolatry is an open door to the enemy.  It puts our souls in jeopardy.  It devalues God and places material things above him.  Since he loves us, he cannot ignore the idols in our lives.

We know that feeling if we have had children or close friends who began to develop a relationship with someone we knew would lead them down a very dark path.  We pointed out the dangers, pushed back on the relationship, and even disciplined children if they snuck out to be with that person.  We did so out of love, knowing that disaster awaited them if they continued with that person.  We saw it had become an idol because they refused sound counsel, ignored all the red flags, turned a deaf ear to all the warnings of their friends, and ignored even the promptings and conviction of the Spirit. 

We have seen people lose marriages because they would not give up a job they loved but that always kept them away from family.  We have seen people who were once passionate about God, drift away from the church for a sinful relationship.  We have seen others forsake their families and their values in a search of fame and fortune.  The things that began as a blessing, became an idol and destruction followed.

Paul put it this way, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life” (Gal. 6:7-8).  Idols appeal to the flesh.  If we pursue them, destruction is in the pipeline.  If we seek God, however, and keep his as our highest priority, life and blessing will flow our way.

So, this year, as we ponder New Year’s Resolutions, check your priorities.  To whom are you giving your best time, your resources, your thoughts, and your heart.  Ask the Spirit to show you the truth about these things because we can easily rationalize our idolatry.  If you need to make adjustments, do so.  Many of the things that have subtly become our idols, taking priority over the Lord and his things, are not bad in themselves, but only in the fact they have become more important than God in our lives.  Remember the words of Jesus to the church at Ephesus, “You have forsaken the love you had at first. ⁵ Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first” (Rev. 2:4-5). 

Watch out for idols.  Like snakes, they are sneaky.

Have you ever driven a car that needed a front end alignment? Somehow one front tire was no longer parallel to the other.  Tires usually get out of alignment by hitting curbs,  dropping into potholes, or experiencing a fender bender.  As you drive the front end begins to vibrate (sometimes intensely), the tires wear out quickly, and even breaking can be affected.  If it is severe enough, the car is practically undriveable. When you start to feel the front end shutter, it’s time to go to an alignment shop where they will make adjustments or replace parts so your front wheels are perfectly parallel again and going in the same direction.

As believers, we need to check our own spiritual alignment, from time to time, to see if we are going in the same direction as Jesus.  Misalignment with Jesus can wear us out and damage us.  Those places in our lives that are not parallel with Jesus, give Satan an opening in our lives to afflict and oppress. Sometimes when we have gone through a stretch of rough road in our lives or have hit a few speed bumps hard, our alignment can drift.  Let me suggest a couple of things we need to inspect to make sure we are still on track.

For most of us, our alignment begins to suffer in areas that are not what we think of as overt sins…adultery, pornography, excessive drinking, drug addiction, embezzlement, abuse, etc.  To be sure, faithful Christians can fall into the snare of the devil and find themselves in these deep weeds of sin wondering how they got there. If we were to examine ourselves we would quickly identify those areas as something that needed repentance and immediate realignment. The people in our lives who cared about us would also point those things out for our benefit.

In many cases, however, Satan prefers to be more subtle.  We just finished a Freedom Weekend where fifty or so people spent an entire afternoon getting free from demonic oppression of one form or another.  Some had entered in through trauma or seasons of sin in their lives.  They were very aware of the oppression that had been coming from those spirits. But others had been oppressed and afflicted for decades and had come to assume that their struggle was just the fabric of life about which nothing could be done…years of anxiety, depression, people pleasing, self-loathing, and so forth. So often we need to look at the not-so-apparent sin to see where we are out of alignment and where the enemy has established a subtle stronghold in our lives.

To begin, the great sin of Israel that God rebuked over and over was idolatry.  That is easy to identify if we are bowing down before graven images and going up to the temples of false Gods to offer sacrifices. But in America, our gods  – the things we put before the God of Heaven – are more difficult to identify because they are an accepted part of our culture.  An idol is anything that we give a greater priority to than God.  It is an alternate source of idenitfy, security, provision, and protection that we go to rather than looking to Jesus.

Many of these idols are even good things when kept in perspective.  We all need a job to provide for our families and to help others in need.  But how many have placed careers ahead of Jesus, ahead of spiritual family, and even our biological family.   No one seems concerned when we can’t worship together or serve in the kingdom because we have to work. Sometimes, we have no choice, but more often we choose it by choosing the career and we choose the career because we want more money, a bigger house, a boat, a fully decked out pickup, and everything our children want that we didn’t have. Our career and our possessions become our identity – our source of significance rather than God.

Nothing is wrong with any of those things by themselves, but when they take priority over God and the Bride of Christ (his church) month after month, they have become “acceptable idols.”  And yet, we always feel justified in our choice to put Jesus after our career, after our recreation, after our children’s activities, and so forth because the good people in our culture approve.  Yet Jesus was very clear that if we don’t put him above everything else in this life, we cannot be his disciple.  A good look at our time, our expenditures, and our involvements might reveal an idolatry we don’t really want to acknowledge.

A second area in which the enemy thrives is in our words. Remember Jesus said that on the Day of Judgment, we will have to give account for every careless word we have spoken. When we come into agreement with Satan through angry, cynical, unbelieving, and judgmental words, we open the door for him.  Ephesians 4:29 counsels us to let no unwholesome talk come out of our mouths but only words that are good for building others up.  We often justify our negative talk and judgments we place on others by assuming they deserve what we said. However,  there are no “unless they deserve it” clauses in God’s command to bless and not curse even our enemies. Gossip, constant criticism, angry outbursts, constant criticism, judgmental statements, etc. also constitute open doors.

Another open door I have become sensitive to lately is the door of non-submission. Scripture clearly commands that we are to be submitted to Jesus, to leaders, children to parents, wives to husbands, employee to employers, etc.  And yet, how many of us are unsubmitted…especially, in our hearts.  The core of Satan’s fall was rebellion…a refusal to submit.  When we rebel against God’s order of authority, we rebel against him.  Certainly, when we come into agreement with the devil on this matter, we provide a legal right for him to attack us.

Finally, I think another open door that few of us consider is a low level of holiness in our lives. On several occasions, scripture calls us to be holy even as He is holy.  We are commanded to avoid the unclean things in the world around us.  But certainly, many of us  compromise holiness with the things we watch, read, listen to, sometimes the people we spend time with, and the environments we frequent.  Remember Paul’s admonition, “Therefore, “Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.” And, I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty (2 Cor. 6:17-18).  We may want to take a holiness inventory, from time to time, to see how well we are aligned with the holiness of God.  Misalignment there, will also be an invitation to the enemy.

I’m not advocating a spiritual paranoia but I am encouraging us to take an inventory from time to time to see where carelessness, rationalizations, and idolatry may be subtle, but over time will allow the enemy entrance into our lives.  We will want to ask the Holy Spirit to reveal those areas to us and bring conviction where it is needed.  In the natural world, we keep our doors and windows locked, set up security systems and keep our homes well lit at night.  Perhaps, we (myself included) need to be as diligent in the spiritual realm where the stakes are even higher.

I’m reading back through Exodus again and this passage caught my attention.  “See, I am sending an angelahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared. Pay attention to him and listen to what he says. Do not rebel against him; he will not forgive your rebellion, since my Name is in him. If you listen carefully to what he says and do all that I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and will oppose those who oppose you. My angel will go ahead of you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites, and I will wipe them out. Do not bow down before their gods or worship them or follow their practices. You must demolish them and break their sacred stones to pieces. Worship the Lord your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you, and none will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will give you a full life span. I will send my terror ahead of you and throw into confusion every nation you encounter. I will make all your enemies turn their backs and run. I will send the hornet ahead of you to drive the Hivites, Canaanites and Hittites out of your way. But I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals too numerous for you. Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land (Ex. 23:20-30).

I think we can draw some significant lessons from this passage regarding our destiny in Christ.  Scripture is clear that “everyday ordained for us was written in God’s book before one of them came to pass (Ps. 139:16). In other words, God established a plan for our lives before we were ever born.  He has prepared things in advance that he invites us to be part of (Eph. 2:10). When we walk in our destiny we are fulfilled and fruitful.  Of course, we can say “no” to the things God has planned for us just like human children can reject good things their father has prepared or provided for them as their inheritance.

The land of Canaan was promised to Abraham and his descendants.  To possess the land was Israel’s destiny. In this passage, God revealed that he had provided an angel to go before them – to guide them and protect them as they stepped into their God-ordained promise.  However, possessing the land or the promise was not automatic.  God warned them there were things they wound encounter that could and would derail them if they were not careful and committed.  First, they had to pay attention to the leading of the Lord. We are directed to be Spirit led.  If we choose to go our own way and then expect God to bless what we have chosen, it will limit our participation in all the things he has prepared for us.  What we choose might be good.  Bur what God had for us would have been great.  It is not always easy to discern the will of the Lord. but God will honor the heart that seeks to know and pursue his will.  If we miss it, he will redirect us.  

Our first step in fulfilling our destiny, then, is to be willing to seek what he has planned for us above our own desires.  God warned the Israelites not to rebel against his instruction but to listen carefully to what he said.  The more responsive we are to the word of God and the more submitted we are to his will, the easier the journey will be.  God told Israel if they would be careful to follow his ways, he would go before them, he would put fear in the hearts of their enemies, and he would oppose those who opposed them.  As Paul said, “If God is for us, who cans stand against us. 

He then warned them of their greatest temptation and that would be the false gods of the people who inhabited Canaan.  As they moved into the land and faced opposition, the temptation would be to make peace with those tribes and to compromise in order to be accepted by them rather than being at war with them.  We have to acknowledge that the false gods of this world appeal to our flesh and our flesh will prompt us to want what others have.  We will be tempted to taste just a little and to participate just a bit, but when we do, the enemy will gain a foothold in our lives that may well become a stronghold.  God said to make no peace and no compromise, but to seek only him and his provision for fulfillment.

Whenever possible, God’s people were not just to isolate themselves and avoid the enemy, but to actively oppose false worship and the demonic spirits behind each idol and each sacred stone. As the saying goes, “All that is needed for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.”  So…God instructs his people to demolish the false religions and to break or pulverize their sacred stones. He goes on to say, if we worship the Lord and follow him only, we will find our destiny and experience his abundant blessings.  He says he will put his blessing on our food and water.  He will remove sickness from us and miscarriages and barrenness will be a thing of the past. He also promises a full life span.  In essence, he is promising the same abundant life that Jesus promises when we serve him with all our hearts. 

Interestingly, we also see that God is strategic in bringing us into our destiny and the promises he has for us.  To Israel, he promised that he would drive the enemy tribes out…but no all at once.  If they were driven out immediately, Israel would not be able to steward the land well.  Wild animals would take over and vineyards would be choked with weeds before Israel could care for what God had given them.  We often want our destiny now and our promises immediately. But God is wise and only gives us what we can manage well.  As we grow and mature, he will give us more.  Jesus said, “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much” (Lk.16:10).  If you want more opportunity, more responsibility, more creativity more prophetic gifting…be very faithful with what you have now and God will give the increase…if you are seeking the destiny he has established for you.  

All of us are guilty of going after what we want and then asking God to bless it.  He may do so, because he is a gracious God.  But the greatest fulfillment and the greatest productivity that will have an has eternal impact is found on the road he destined for us before the world was created.  Let me encourage you to seek that road and let him lead you there.