Living in the Spirit
Light a Candle for Children
September 29, 2014
Scripture Reading: Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20
I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me. — Exodus 20:2-3
Theologically speaking, we rather take monotheism for granted today. The vast majority of the peoples of the earth, who believe in God at all, at least give lip service to the existence of one God. In my recent travels through Turkey, I visited many ruins and museums that displayed the many gods that were worshipped in that part of the world during the dawning of Christianity. The temple to Artemis at Ephesus was dubbed one of the Seven Wonders of the World. It was there that Paul struggled to introduce the God that Abraham had identified as the only god.
We no longer worship what are called idols, images carved in stone or wood or metal, but we do worship other gods and in some instances, I believe, we let those other gods rise to a level of importance that exceeds the place of the one true God in our lives. I do not believe the measure of our commitment to the one true God is the amount of time we spend in church or prayer or study. The measure of our commitment to the one true God is weighed on the scales of how much we love God and that is directly linked to how much we love one another. When the focus of our love is material wealth or power often at the expense of the other, we have fallen into the trap of idol worship.
Jesus modeled a life of service to others and he particularly showed concern for children. Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.’ (Matthew 19:14) I was truly shocked at the animosity shown recently in regard to the refugee children spilling into the USA from Central America in search of safety. I am pretty sure that broke God’s heart.
Oklahoma Fact: About 1,500 children from Central America were aided at Ft. Sill during the summer of 2014 while arrangements were being made for their care here or return home.*
Prayer: Lord, forgive us when we let the world encroach on our love for you and our love for all your children. Remove our fear of others and protect us when real threats are present, but always help us keep our focus on loving all your children. Amen.
*http://okpolicy.org/migrant-children-ft-sill
All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.