Deuteronomy 7-8
Deuteronomy 7:5 – This is what you are to do to them: Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones, cut down their Asherah poles and burn their idols in the fire.
I’m a keeper. Not exactly a pack rat. Definitely not a hoarder. But I do like to keep stuff from the past.
For example, I have movie theater ticket stubs that date back to the 1980s! Yeah! I know. I even scrapbooked them at one point! Can you believe it?
Here’s another example. Several years ago I went through a grand purge of my closet and found a tshirt that a boyfriend from my early college years had given me. Why had I kept that? It had zero relevance to my current, happily married life and yet I still had the silly shirt.
It didn’t take long for me to decide to toss that shirt in the trash.
As we continue our reading through Deuteronomy this week, we read about all the stuff that God is directing the Israelites to get rid of once they enter the Promised Land.
Specifically in Deuteronomy 7:5, God is referring to idols that all the “ites” nations worshipped. God tells them that if His people do not break down, smash, and burn the idols that those practices will separate them from the love of God.
When we enter into a relationship with God, our lives begin to transform from the inside out. And for those of us who have been on the journey for some time, we realize that God is always refining our character and letting us experience a life that will draw us closer to Him.
And sometimes that means we need to get rid of the stuff that is keeping us from having a closer relationship with our Father. That “stuff” might be actual physical materials. It might be habits or relationships. But it is also mindsets, the ideas that casually roam freely through our minds that do us more harm than good.
“I’m not good enough.”
“No one understands me.”
“It’s too hard to accomplish.”
“Who would want to take a chance on me?”
LIES! LIES! LIES!
Listen to me.
You are a child of the Most High God!
You are precious.
You are valuable!
You have a grand purpose in God’s eyes and that purpose will be fulfilled!
When God tells us to get rid of the old stuff in order to experience the new creation He has intended for us to be…THIS is what He is talking about!
Dear Friend, Do not let old mindsets and ways of thinking separate you from the love of God.
Believe His Word.
Do what it says.
Experience the life He has designed for you to live!
-Bethany Ligon
Read or listen to today’s Bible passages at BibleGateway – Deuteronomy 7-8 and Luke 12
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