What do YOU worship?

'Then Samuel said to all the people of Israel, “If you want to
return to the Lord with all your hearts, get rid of
your foreign gods and your images of Ashtoreth. Turn your
hearts to the Lord and obey him alone; then he will
rescue you from the Philistines.” '
1 Samuel 7:3 https://my.bible.com/bible/116/1SA.7.3


When the Israelites lost the Ark it was because THEY left the Lord. They tried LIFE ON THEIR OWN. My experience tells me, THAT'S NOT A GOOD IDEA. As a matter of fact living life without the Lord is not life, it is DEATH. These lost people took the Ark and hid it away after the Philistines returned it (quickly -- it seems mocking the Lord can be painful and disgusting!). For twenty years the Isarelites had no idea what to do with the Ark. They possessed it but they did not give it AND their Lord, the worship he was due. It wasn't the power of the ARK that had failed. It was the trust of people who had forgotten the Lord. Then Samuel, a great leader, finally told them how to return to the Lord. They did everything he asked and AFTER turning back to the Lord, LIFE WAS GOOD.

Really our message is the same. If we really want to return to the Lord with all our hearts, we need to get rid of our FOREIGN gods. I don't see many graven images in our society. I don't see golden calves. But, we DO worship foreign gods. How many people do you know that WORSHIP their favorite sports hero. How many worship their cause, money, success, material things, people, TECHNOLOGY, or a place? 

Worship is the act of ADORATION or DEVOTION.  What amount of time do we give the THINGS I just listed compared to God. IF we truly are DEVOTED TO THE LORD, shouldn't he receive our devotion? Shouldn't we give him our TIME? Instead we spend all our time with anything BUT the LORD. We treat our Bibles like the Ark. We hide them away because, frankly, we don't understand the power unleashed when we dive into God's word. We are embarrassed and feel the Lord won't let us return. NOT TRUE.  TURN BACK TO THE LORD NOW. GOD WILL ACCEPT YOU WITH OPEN ARMS.

In the past 6 months, Stephanie and I have worked hard to devote MORE time to diving into the WORD of the LORD. For nearly two years, we have devoted more time in PRAYER.  I do not say this to BRAG. I say it to implore YOU to do the same. We have seen AMAZING BLESSINGS and when we have had issues come forward, we have been able to face them with more confidence than ever before. We feel more at peace and are so excited to see the Lord use us in everything we do. THE LORD WANTS OUR DEVOTION! 

TURN YOUR HEARTS TO THE LORD and OBEY HIM ALONE. He will rescue you!