Anytime, anywhere

"Then the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served the Baals and the Ashtoreths, the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the people of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines; and they forsook the Lord and did not serve Him. So the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel..........And the children of Israel cried out to the Lord, saying, 'We have sinned against You, because we have both forsaken our God and served the Baals!'"
(Judges 10:6-7, 10)
We read several times during the times of the Judges that Israel followed after the idols/gods of their pagan neighbors, they would be punished by God, then they would repent, and then redo the whole cycle again. We sit here and read this and think of them as a bunch of fools. Why did they make this mistake over and over again? It was common practice in the ancient Near East to worship the gods of your foreign neighbors because it was believed those gods (“Baals and Ashtoreths”) owned different sections of land. It was superstitiously believed that to be blessed in a particular land, you had to worship the god who was believed to own it. Israel, largely, bought into these superstitions.
This isn't a too far removed concept from our own experiences in our culture today. What culture/society says is 'ok' to do, many Christians cave and do along with them. Alternate, sinful lifestyles, redefining marriage and gender, the mantra 'all roads lead to heaven,' etc. are just some of the 'Baals and Ashtoreths' we face daily - and as far as the culture is concerned - God's people are to either get with the program or get run over. In other words, Christians will be blessed by the gods of this culture if we will simply believe and follow. Christians will be cursed by the gods of this culture if we reject and rebel.
Living for the Lord unashamedly in such a godless environment was a hard lesson the Israelites had to learn and re-learn over and over again: They were God’s people no matter where they were, therefore, they were expected follow and obey Him and Him alone wherever and whenever. When they chose to reject Him and follow after the gods of the culture, sin, judgment and heartache followed. It wasn't until they would choose to repent and turn back to God that their nation was healed.
Christians, we must realize this same truth. Whether on Sunday, or at home, at work, on vacation, or on the Internet, if we are truly God’s people, we don’t follow after other “gods”, idols or customs just because we’re in a different place or situation. The culture may worship what it so chooses, but believers are called to worship God and Him alone.
We are Christians at all times in all places around all people. Anytime, anywhere.


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