READING: 2 Kings 1-3, John 7:53-8:30
I think today about people around the world who worship false gods every day. For many, their connection with their god is as much who they are as their people group or national identification; indeed, they may never have heard of the God of the Bible. Then, I think about the many “gods” we who have access to the true gospel still choose to worship on our worst days. It doesn’t make sense to me that many of us turn to false gods, yet I know we’ve all been guilty at some point.
King Ahaziah also turned to a false God—Baalzebub, the local god of Ekron—when he wanted to recover from a fall. Tragically, he turned to a god who could not speak to learn whether he would recover from his injury. It was the prophet Elijah who then confronted him with a simple, basic, yet penetrating question: “Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron?” (2 Kgs 1:3). There was, of course, a God in Israel—the very God who would bring His judgment on the king’s messengers and then on King Ahaziah himself. The true God made Himself known in a most dramatic display of death.
This same God makes Himself known to us today through His Word, His Spirit, and His people. It simply makes no sense to turn to false gods when the true God has come to us and offers us a relationship with Him.
PRAYER: “God, keep me from turning to false gods. Help me to turn to You always.”
DAILY ACTION STEP: Determine what false gods are still attractive to you today. Confess that tendency to God.
TOMORROW’S READING: 2 Kings 4-6, John 8:31-59
