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I am using readings from the 49 Week Bible Challenge as the basis for these devotions. I encourage you to join me in this discipline. Today’s readings are Acts 18:19-28; 19; Jeremiah 10; 2 Kings 21. [In yesterday’s post I actually jumped a day ahead to 1 Corinthians 1 and other passages. We’ll be back on track soon.]
Jeremiah 10:1-7
Hear the word that the Lord speaks to you, O house of Israel. 2 Thus says the Lord:
“Learn not the way of the nations,
nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens
because the nations are dismayed at them,
3 for the customs of the peoples are vanity.
A tree from the forest is cut down
and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman.
4 They decorate it with silver and gold;
they fasten it with hammer and nails
so that it cannot move.
5 Their idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field,
and they cannot speak;
they have to be carried,
for they cannot walk.
Do not be afraid of them,
for they cannot do evil,
neither is it in them to do good.”6 There is none like you, O Lord;
you are great, and your name is great in might.
7 Who would not fear you, O King of the nations?
For this is your due;
for among all the wise ones of the nations
and in all their kingdoms
there is none like you.
Don’t you love it when a turn of phrase captures a truth so perfectly? That’s what I thought of when I read, “Their idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field.” Useless. Unnecessary. Impotent. A waste of time, energy, and effort. But still people yearn for idols.
Today most people are a bit more sophisticated about their idolatry. Some drive their idols hoping to impress others. Others put makeup or aftershave on their idols. A few paint their faces or bodies(!) with their idol’s team colors and make a show of their devotion. Many sit in front of a large TV to cheer their idols on to victory – or to ogle and salivate over their idol (America’s or Hollywood’s).
I know it’s fun to root your team on to victory. I realize it’s better that I shave, put on deodorant and aftershave most every morning. It can be good entertainment when a favorite movie franchise releases its next film. And we don’t really worship them, do we? Do we???
Worse then scarecrows in cucumber fields are some of the other practices Jeremiah writes of, and that are recorded in 2 Kings 21. Burning their children in the fire! Setting up pagan altars in the Lord’s house! Turning people away from God and ridiculing his faithful people! That’s worse than a scarecrow in any field.
How do we avoid such folly? How do we resist the lure of things that promise things they can never deliver? I know only one way. That is to lean into God’s word, and fellowship with God’s faithful people. There are a million distractions, and multitudes of people who bow down to gold, gin, or guys or gals.
Let’s lean into Jeremiah’s words – the last two verses from above – and give God the glory that only he deserves!
There is none like you, O Lord;
you are great, and your name is great in might.
7 Who would not fear you, O King of the nations?
For this is your due;
for among all the wise ones of the nations
and in all their kingdoms
there is none like you.
Amen.
David Bahn - Reflections 
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