My friend D and I like to joke that God keeps adding verses to the Bible when we're not looking. Today was one of those days for me. I decided to actually get up early (before my kiddos came clambering down the stairs) and look up a good daily Bible site and read. The chosen OT text for the day was Jonah. God has a habit of bringing me back to the same portions of Scripture over and over - as if to say "I'm gonna keep doing this until you *get* it."
So I'm perusing the (now very familiar) story, when a particular verse jumps up and bites me on the nose. It is Jonah 2:8
"Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs."
Ouch.
A lot of the Old Testament is God dealing with the Israelites and their tendency to forget their all powerful YWVH and go running after the gods (idols) of their pagan neighbors. These particular gods were actual, physical statues or trinkets that the people kept in their homes and made little family shrines for the folks in their households. Now, it gets confusing for me sometimes, having grown up in America - raised in a family with a tradition of church attendance (and several ministers) to identify those things in my life that God considers idols.
So what is an idol? By definition (Free Online Dictionary):
1. The image of a god used as an object of worship
2. An object of excessive devotion or admiration
The first part of that definition really does not cause me a problem. But the second part? Hmmm....where do I start?
Time for some mental and spiritual housecleaning, I think...
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