Worshiping Like Womanizers

Suggested Reading: 2 Chronicles 30:23-31:1

My wife used to watch a show called Gilmore Girls, which I think I've mentioned once or twice. When Rory, one of the main characters, went to college she met a boy named Logan who was something of a womanizer. He dated a different girl every night of the week and had a little black book the size of the encyclopedia (That may be a slight exaggeration. Maybe). He and Rory started dating (as one of his many girlfriends) because she thought she would be ok with a casual relationship. When she realized she wasn't ok just being one of many, she went to Logan to let him know she was done. But somewhere along the way Logan had fallen in love with Rory and, instead of accepting her ending of the casual relationship, Logan committed to Rory. Logan stopped seeing other girls cold turkey and was committed to Rory alone because he would rather date only her than have dozens of girls all the time without Rory. Being in love with Rory caused Logan to change his entire lifestyle.

In 2 Chronicles 30, where King Hezekiah re-instituted the Passover Feast after a decades long (if not longer) lapse, we saw God extend mercy and overlook the technicalities of purification rules and we saw the people respond by choosing to put their lives on hold and spend an extra seven days in worship. But their renewed devotion to God in response to God's mercy, didn't stop with more worship time. When the festival was done, the people who had celebrated went out and began to remove all of the altars  that were set up outside of the temple which violated the laws for worship. Then, they went even further and "broke up the sacred pillars, chopped down the Asherah poles, and tore down the high places and altars throughout Judah and Benjamin, as well as in Ephraim and Manasseh, to the last one" (2 Chronicles 31:1, NIV). Once they were finished getting rid of the unlawful altars dedicated to God, they then went out and removed all of the places where idols were worshiped in the land.

Now, these idols and the places where they were worshiped were big business. Lots of money was made off of these idols. Some of them made their living by acting as priests in these high places. Having these places around made a convenient excuse for not going to the Temple to worship as the law of Moses required. But the people removed them all because their renewed devotion to God spurred them to take action to purify their lives from sin and to begin living in a way that pleased God. You see, loving someone affects the way you live your life. Logan's love for Rory caused him to give up all the other girls who might have gotten in the way, and the people of Judah and Israel loved God in such a way that they removed any of the other objects of worship that might have gotten in the way of their relationship with God.

We can claim we love God all we want. But when we continue to allow things in our lives that get in the way of that love, we don't have much credibility. When you love someone, it affects the way you live, it affects the choices you make and the things you allow in your life.  Far too often, though, we allow things in our lives that get in the way of our love for God, things that distract us from God or that push us out of God's will. But if we really love God like we say we do, that love will affect the way we live and the things we allow in our lives.

Is there something in your life that you just can't seem to let go of, even though it interferes with your relationship with God? If you really want to love God, it might be time to get rid of it.

Being a Good Person by Feeling Bad About Yourself

Suggested Reading: Mark 6:14-28

Not long ago, I watched an episode of Gilmore girls with my wife. One of the main characters, Rory, a college girl was chosen as editor of the Yale Daily News while Rory's best friend was ousted from the position.  Rory felt bad about it but thought it was a good move and went along with it. Rory's friend took a while to accept her new position at the paper with anything resembling grace, but the story reminded me of the number of times we feel bad about doing things but choose to do them anyway.

In Mark chapter 6, we find King Herod in a similar position. He had been married to an Arabian princess but had an affair with his brother's wife (who was also his niece) and they each left their respective spouses to marry each other. John the Baptizer criticized Herod for breaking the Jewish law in this way and so Herod had him arrested.  But scripture describes this weird paradox. Herod knew John to be a righteous and holy man so he protected him in prison from his own wife's scheming ways. At one point Mark tells us this, "When Herod heard him he would be very disturbed, yet would hear him gladly" (Mark 6:20, HCSB).

Why in the world would Herod enjoy being so disturbed by John? Well, we do that very thing all the time. I have counseled with a number of people engaged in ongoing activities that were wrong who felt very badly about what they were doing. But the more we talked, I discovered that they were satisfied with feeling bad about what they were doing rather than fixing it.  You see, in many people's minds, feeling bad about doing something bad means you are not really a bad person. So, while they continue doing the thing that is wrong, they decide that feeling bad about it is enough to be a good person "at heart." In an odd way, these people feel better about themselves when they feel bad about what they have done.  And ultimately, these people are only really interested in feeling good about themselves...which happens because they felt bad about behaving badly.

What about us? Do we ever catch ourselves relieved that we feel bad about doing something wrong? Do we feel better when we admit we're doing something wrong even though we don't really have any intention of putting things right? If so, we are only interested in feeling good about ourselves and not in doing the right things.

If feeling bad makes you feel better, something is out of balance.  Focus on doing right and setting things right and you might feel good about yourself for something other than just feeling bad.