Like the Children of Israel in the desert.....

I am reading a fictional book about a young Christian Jew who was taken captive after the siege of Jerusalem, not all that long after the death of Christ. The book has been powerful and talks a lot about the idols that the Romans devoted themselves too. Many changes and transitions take place in the life of this young woman, who has become a servant in a Roman household. Thru it all, she remains faithful to the Lord, even though her faith was the weakest of all survivors. What really strikes me and has as me reflecting this week, is the place of idols in the daily life of the Romans. They were everywhere! I dont think that has changed much....

I know we have talked about idols before: that an idol can be anything that you place before God or give position to above Him. We have talked about how we can make ourselves our own idols by putting our earthly lives and desires before our service and relationship with Christ also. This week, idols have been swirling around me in many forms. I wonder if it is God's leading to open my eyes to how He sees my life?

Friday, we moved the television OUT of our bedroom (where it has been since we were married) and into the living room, where we havent had a tv for over a year. I somehow felt then that we had moved some sort of shrine into the corner of the living room. Our furniture is not necessarily positioned around it, but none the less, I was reminded of the home shrines you might see in a Hindu household. It is in no less a place of prominence, being one of the first things you see when you walk into the house. I could hide it, but it would still be there (kind of like I can hide my sin, but it is still there too....)

Saturday, I heard about how some of the church practices for worshiping Christ are perfectly parallel to the rites for Dionysus, a Greek god. I didnt know how to feel about that, but while reading this book of fiction, it wasnt hard to accept that many religious practices become blended together and that we as human have to classify things to accept them, which often leads to us assuming inappropriate traditions or methods of worship. It has me thinking, anyway.

I know that there are many idols that I put before myself as a distraction or an excuse to not be in full fellowship with God. Part of it is fear to submit completely, the other part worldly deception, meant to separate me from Him and bond me to sin. I want to allow God complete reign, complete rule of my heart and also my hands and life. I pray that we are not so content/confined in our "religion" that we prevent God from shaping us to His true purpose as servants. That I will submit my will and fear of being without my "seen idols" to God and also follow His prompting in the issue of what to do with the television set. I have been aware of this battle for a long time, but somehow have skirted ever really confronting it, clinging to what I can see and afraid of Gods voice. I dont want that anymore. I want to live to serve my God, not this world and its idols.

8:30 p.m. Update: I chose to put us on a strict t.v. diet - I counted 123 children's videos in our collection! Thats a potential 123 hours (if you average them out) of tube time for my kids. Yikes! Thats proof enough for me that our television is an idol.
So most of those are being packed up, including Pixar and Disney. Im not sad at all. The only one I couldnt put away (for some reason?) was Babe. Now I will wait to see what I should do next...