Scripture
Our verse for today comes from Acts 17:23, ” For as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: To The Unknown God. Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you. “
Background
When was the last time you considered the objects of your worship? As we go through our week, most of us are guilty of at least two things. The first is we worship and place many things above Christ’s Lordship in our lives. The second is that we notice this in others and usually pass some form of judgment on them for doing this very thing. As we pass through each day, the altars and idols that others are bowing before and placing importance in are so much more obvious than the ones that we are treating as our masters. And why is that? Why do we see in others what we do not see in ourselves? The people of Athens were very religious. They had many altars and objects of worship that any visitor could see. And the one that caught Paul’s eye the most was the one to the unknown god. They were religious enough to know that they might be missing someone or something that deserved worship, so they erected the insurance altar. It was there to cover any part of their lives that wasn’t attended to by the other gods. But our problem is not depending on a god that we don’t know, it’s not knowing that we’re depending on these other gods at all. We hear the conversations of others and dismiss the importance they put in trivial topics and temporal interests. That’s easy to do when we’re wired to be interested in other things.
Application
But we’re just as religious as the Athenians. If we’re not serving one of our man-made masters, we’re basking in the subtle glory that we’re not like all those other people. And that puts us face down in front of the altar of pride. So the call is to consider the objects that we are worshipping. The challenge is to do like David did and ask God to search our hearts and see if there is any wicked way in it, and lead us in the way everlasting. Our gods can take on many different forms. Let’s see them for what they are, and return Lordship to the One who deserves our all.
Charge
As we seek Him today, look around for the little altars that you have built in your life. Ask God to help you stop worshipping those things that you didn’t even know had rule over you.
Rich Holt / Originally Published on : BCWorldview.org
Also published on : Medium.com.
