CWW Week 20 – Day 1 – Blending God To Suit Us

Scripture.

Exodus 20:4-5 (NIV) states:

1. “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.
2. 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,”

Devotional.

If you got fifty people to draw a picture of God, do you think you would find any two that were similar in concept?

Well maybe. Perhaps several depicting a stately old man in white robes and a long flowing beard or an angry dictator with a thundering voice dealing out punishment all over the world. But the question here is this. Can anyone paint a true and accurate picture of the God of Heaven?

Many masters have tried but all have fallen short. Our God is far to big to paint. He is also therefore way too big for us to control.

But I have noticed a trend in this new digital society where you can create anything you like; be anything you like. We are creating a god to suit our lifestyle and our belief systems. A god who does not challenge but one who makes us feel good.

We are blending God into our lifestyle.

In effect we are creating God in our image and in so doing we are worshipping what we ourselves have created. This goes into direct contravention of the second of God’s laws/principles.

As we walk this path we are treading on dangerous ground indeed. Going against God’s will for our lives has eternal consequences that play out for our offspring as well.

The sins of the fathers being visited on the children of future generations, refers to the influence we exert over our children. They largely do as we do and God knows that with our feeble human nature, that it can take the next three of four generations to break that chain. In this, we who have been raised in these circumstances must find a way to become chain breakers, to set a new course for those to follow us.

When the tablets of stone were given to Moses for the people of Israel, God made it clear that He alone was the only one true God. The Israelites had been raised in the Egyptian culture that had a different God for everything. God needed to break that chain so that He didn’t end up on the shelf with all the other false gods.

Today we are putting God into a blender in a recipe of our own making. We add a little new age interpretation, a big dose of spiritism, a few angels and saints here and there, a pinch of magical crystals, and a huge dose of the  power of self. We grease the pan with a few intellectual quotes, and some unique interpretations of scripture and when it comes out of the oven, we ice the cake with peer pressure to come up with a cake that has no real nutritional value and can go stale very quickly.

Served up with a cream beaten with eastern mysticism and a desire to avoid the unpleasant, we realise, hopefully not too late, that this is a cake that will eventually harden our hearts and bring us down.

In times of anxiety and stress we need the God of the universe to be represented in our lives in the fullness of His grace and mercy. He gives us in His word, the essence of what is required for us to live into His potential for us. It is pointless to try and paint a picture of God or create a replica of Him to worship. In Jesus, He gave us the three things we need to focus on to complete the journey. The testimony and witness of Jesus, the keeping of His laws of life and growth, and finally, His character as demonstrated by the Son and generated by His Holy Spirit invited into us.

In this we get to live in His image as we were meant to do, knowing that one day we will get to see clearly and not through the frosted glass of our current perceptions.

We must not be diverted, and we commit folly when we try to make God-fit-us. God is not tailored to fit us; we are fitted to Him as our characters are developed in His darkroom.

Questions

1. What does God look like in your mind?
2. Are you comfortable or challenged by that picture?
3. Can you see the ease of life that can come if you just accept that God is indescribable?

Prayer.

Dear Lord, Papa God.

Who can begin to contemplate or copy who you are? Not I lord and not the great masters of history. I can only hope to glimpse the real You through your Son Jesus who is the light filter of our observations. It would be easy if You adapted to me Papa, but then I would not grow and my character would be flimsy at best. Have me focus on Your will for my life knowing that you will be viewed in your fulness by my Holy Spirit inspired actions is my prayer Father in the precious name of Jesus.

Amen.

Have a great day with Jesus.

Graham Hood.