3.10.24 Willisburg Bulletin
Idols In Impatience
We all know the event of the Aaron fashioned and molded a gold calf for the Israelites to worship and claim as their god. Right before this happened, it says in Exodus 32:1, “when the people saw that Moses was delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron” to basically tell him, Moses has left and we don’t know if he’s coming back, he’s taking way too long. Therefore, they commanded Aaron to make them a god to worship they could actually see. They were going to “live it up” as people do now days, by celebrating and calling it a “feast to the Lord,” but in God’s eyes it was disobedience. The Israelites had become impatient with Moses, which actually means they were trying to hurry the Lord and His plan. Their impatience provided nothing beneficial for them but maybe satisfy their wants for a VERY short time. In fact, not only did Moses destroy the gold idol with fire and make them drink the water where he scattered the ashes, but also, God punished them with a plague in Exodus 32:35. We also see that Aaron multiplied his sin by lying. He tried to blame his sin on the Israelites as if he didn’t participate. AND remember, this was right after God had provided His people (the called out) with all the skills they needed to build the tabernacle (Exodus 31).
Using Talents
The Israelites soon learned their lesson and ended up building the tabernacle to God’s specks perfectly in Exodus 35. Each person “with a willing heart” (Exo 35:21, 22, 26, 29) had something to contribute because God had abundantly given them “all wisdom and understanding to know how to do all the manner of work for the service of the sanctuary” (Exo 36:1). They were willingly giving what God had blessed them with. Instead of being impatient, they used their talents to serve.
What Are You Doing?
So are you building idols that hinder in your impatience on earth or are you using your talents to work in God’s Kingdom? It’s easy to become impatient but God has called us out for a greater purpose, His purpose (2 Timothy 1:9-10) as His people (1 Peter 2:10). The church, literally defined as “the called out” are the “living stones being built up a spiritual house … to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Pet 2:5). We are told to wait on the Lord in Ps 27:14; He is coming back and we must wait. BUT we are also given the command to work for His good and He has given us all the skills we need to do just that (Matt 25:14-30). When impatience boils in your life, your time somehow gets filled with sinful and unprofitable things. We start building idols. Maybe that idol is doing things yourself, not ever looking to God, then multiplying the sin by crediting self. Maybe the idol is not including others or having the wrong heart in your service to God. Without a willing attitude it’s simply just what we call going through the motions. Maybe the idol is serving worldly things. That could be caused by allowing too many sinful influences into your life. Maybe your surrounded by bad friends, immodest clothing, inappropriate joking, vulgar TV shows, or a job taking you away from God. Soon these have become the things you idol the most. Or maybe that seems extreme – BUT you have built an idol when you begin wasting your time on worldly matters (that may not be “sinful” in it of themselves), but they are drawing your eyes away from the Kingdom work in your waiting on the Lord. Being part of the church comes with responsibility, are we taking it serious enough to obey the commands while waiting on the Lord? We must being giving ourselves FULLY!