Last week I encouraged parents by assuring them that their best days, as parents and families, are ahead of them! The future is bright - not because of parent telling jokes or stories, not because of careers or money-making capacities - but because of something far more important. Today’s topic is hard. No one wants to hear about bad news and this news is as bad as it gets. However, if we have been warned that there is a poisonous snake in the path ahead, we can choose a different path. Parents must choose the right path.
We have all read and heard about the alarming rates that young adults leave the church when they leave home. Parents and Christian leaders are working to try and find a solution to this growing problem. There is a tragic reality about our culture and it infatuation with false gods (pleasure, money, and entertainment).
People who replace their affection and devotion to Almighty God with anything else lose their ability to see God reveal Himself, hear God speak, or experience the truth of God. This is the curse of idolatry and the reason that our foundation of faith is crumbling.
Our foundation is built exclusively on God’s promises. God made a promise to those who would carry out His covenant. God promised Abraham in Genesis 12:1-4,“I will make you into a great nation, I will bless you, I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, I will curse those who treat you with contempt, and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
Idolaters bring upon themselves the curse of the loss of their senses (speaking, vision, hearing, smell, touch, physical). When idolaters are separated from God, the true Creator, Sustainer, and Inspirer of life, their sensory faculties are diminished. When idolater’s sensory faculties are diminished, they cannot perceive God, even when they are directly confronted by His revelation.
Look at these parallel passages::
| Deuteronomy 28:64-65 Then the Lord will scatter you among all peoples from one end of the earth to the other, and there you will worship other gods, of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known. 65 You will find no peace among those nations, and there will be no resting place for the sole of your foot. There the Lord will give you a trembling heart, failing eyes, and a despondent spirit. | Psalm 115:4-8 Their idols are silver and gold, made by human hands. 5 They have mouths but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see. 6 They have ears but cannot hear, noses, but cannot smell. 7 They have hands but cannot feel, feet, but cannot walk. They cannot make a sound with their throats. 8 Those who make them are just like them, as are all who trust in them. | Psalm 135:15-18 The idols of the nations are of silver and gold, made by human hands. 16 They have mouths but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see. 17 They have ears but cannot hear; indeed, there is no breath in their mouths. 18 Those who make them are just like them, as are all who trust in them. | Romans 1:21-26 For though they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking became nonsense, and their senseless minds were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man, birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles. 24 Therefore God delivered them over in the cravings of their hearts to sexual impurity, so that their bodies were degraded among themselves. 25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served something created instead of the Creator, who is praised forever. Amen. 26 This is why God delivered them over to degrading passions. |
This same warning is repeated across the entirity scripture (Both Testaments – Old and New; and three literary genres – historical, wisdom, and theological). It is no accident that the loss of senses in Psalm 115:4-8 and Psalm 135:15-18 are duplicated in Deuteronomy 28:64-65 and Romans 1:21, 24, 26.
The covenantal curse for all “who treat (His covenantal partners) with contempt” is that their hearts are hardened as a consequence of testing God (Psalm 95:8-10) and refuse to repent (Jeremiah 5:20-23). Refusing the call to repent has always gone hand in glove with idolatry (Jeremiah 9:13-14; 13:10).Our God is incomparable, invincible, intolerant of syncretism, and jealously committed to protecting His covenantal partners. In the Old Testament, people committed spiritual suicide through covenant infidelity (Deuteronomy 28:64-65).
Parents, the Family Ministry efforts of NBFamilies is not a program or curriculum. We are mobilizing as God’s covenantal partners, as families and disciples to save the souls of future generations. Please understand the priority of your hearts.What has God revealed to you about your false god’s? Can you hear, see, smell, touch what God is revealing to you? What needs to be done to repair what your kids have been observing? Do you have any apologies to make (to God?, to your spouse?, to you kids?)?
Your best days are ahead of you!
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| Dr. Phil Sallee, Pastor twitter.com/philsallee facebook.com/phil.sallee philsallee.info nbchurch.info nbfamilies.info |
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