“My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up,” Psalm 5:3, KJV.
“At daybreak, LORD, You hear my voice; at daybreak I plead my case to You and watch expectantly,” Psalm 5:3, HCSB.
Have you ever seen sun rays stream through your bedroom window in the morning? It actually works better if there are dust particles floating in the air. This morning there were plenty of sun rays to be seen. And this afternoon—I will be dusting.
Think about how a ray of light just traveled about 93 million miles to wake us up! Oh, and to warm our earth, feed the plants, and give us our seasons. But for the sake of this devotional—it got me out of bed. And I thought of our Creator.
God wants us to set our minds on the things above and be expectant. He wants our hearts ready for service as we kickoff our blankets to begin our day. I think when our hearts and minds are set on Him—we do see life differently. We eagerly wait for God to show up, and we pray, “What would You like me to do for You today?”
It’s not “over spiritualizing” when one notices God’s hand on the move. There’s a difference between a new age spiritualistic approach to seeing life compared to noticing what our creator God has done. One makes an idol, the other praises our Father in Heaven.
I had a friend once tell me that crystals had spiritual power to heal. I was interested. Do they have magical properties? Do they help science create an antidote? Or do they miraculously heal like God? She said, “Since God created the crystal, it can heal, and I believe it.”
The mind has a powerful way of healing. The placebo effect is real and documented. A belief in something can aid the process of healing. But what she had done was take an inanimate object and give it power. She claimed it had “the power of God to heal and protect her.” She had created an idol. Her link to Christianity, for she said she was a Christian, was that God had made it.
Her crystals were beautiful, and God had made them (I don’t think they were made in a lab), but since God Himself has warned against giving power to wood, stones, and such—I’m pretty sure believing in these stones to save and heal was wrong.
Idol worship is to abandon the way of God for another. This comes in many forms. Anything that takes the place of God or impose His character onto something that is not intended for that purpose is wrong. He was pretty clear when He told Moses to write it on stone tablets.
Creation is to be adored and used to draw our focus back to God. We worship God who created it, not the creation itself. We appreciate what God has made, for it’s the evidence of who God is—the Creator!
Are you able to see what’s around you as a way to worship God? Or are you worshiping objects themselves—giving power to the powerless?
Quick check—
What would you grab if your house caught on fire? What would you mourn if it burnt up?
Father,
You alone are God, the Creator. You are the One we need and should go to with all our cares and praises. So why don’t we? Is it because we don’t really see You? Know You? Trust You?
Oh, forgive us for being blind and deaf to who You are!
You are worthy to be praised, because it’s who You are! You are a powerful and yet relational God, and we thank You.
You promise that if we humble ourselves, resist the devil, and draw near to You—You will draw near to us.
We ask for forgiveness of worshiping anything other than You. Reveal to us our hearts so we can see what we need to confess. We want to know and love You better as servants and as children who listen and obey what You say. But we need Your help.
Thank You, Father, for being patient with us. Thank You for being ready to receive our praise and worship. Thank You for giving us this beautiful world in which we live. Help us to care for it, not worship it.
Amen.
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