Have you ever watched the television show, “Married With Children?” There was an episode where Al Bundy was trying to remember a song he used to listen to in his youth, and the only part of the song he could remember were the words, “Look to me.” He went through the whole episode trying to find out what song it was, and the only words he could remember were, “Look To Me.” It didn’t help that the name of the song was actually, “The One Who Really Loves You”, by Mary Wells. He did actually find out what song it was and ended up buying the record. True to the Al Bundy luck though, it was either he, or his wife Peg, but someone ended up sitting on the record and breaking it at the end of the show.
Al Bundy & Isaiah 45:22
In the song, the singer is basically telling her beau to quit looking at the other girls, and look to her, the one who really loved him. This sort of brings to mind Isaiah 45:22, where God is saying, “Let all the world look to me for salvation! For I am God; there is no other.” This passage says it all. God is imploring the Gentile nations to renounce all of their lifeless idols, and look to Him, the living God. There are no others gods. None.
What’s An Idol?
You know, normally when we think of idols, we usually think of some statue-like figure that people bow down and worship. The dictionary definition of an idol is, “An image or representation of a god used as an object of worship.” It reminds me of the Golden Calf in the book of Exodus. It was made by the Israelites when Moses went up to Mount Sinai.
A Golden Calf
When the people of Israel saw how long it was taking Moses to come down from Mount Sinai, they asked Aaron to make them some gods who could lead them, because they didn’t know what happened to Moses. Aaron told them to bring him the gold rings from the ears of their wives and daughters. He took the gold he received, melted it, and molded it into the shape of a calf. The people said, “This is our god.” Then Aaron made an altar and declared a feast to the Lord for the next day. We all know what happened after that.
Moses, Handle This!
God told Moses to go down and handle his corrupt people. God was ready to destroy them, and start over again with Moses, but Moses stepped in for them, and God relented from His anger. When Moses, though, went down off of Mount Sinai, and saw what they were doing, he crushed the stone tablets that God had written his commandments on. He ground the golden calf into powder, poured it in water, and made the people drink it. After questioning Aaron, who gives him this wild story about when the people came to him wanting him to make a god to go before them, he told them to bring their gold and jewelery, which he threw into the fire, and low and behold, out comes this golden calf.
Moses Draws The Line
Then Moses basically draws a line in the sand, and called for those who were for the Lord, to come over to him. All of the Levites rallied to him. He then commanded the Levites to go through the camp killing people who were disobedient to God. About 3,000 people died that day. Moses went back up Mount Sinai to try to make atonement for the sins of the Israelites. God told Moses to continue to lead the people, but He also struck them with an illness as punishment for worshiping the golden calf.
God Hates Idol Worship
You sort of get the impression that God hates idol worship. It always amazes me that the Israelites, even though they knew the Lord had led them out of Egypt, and performed miracles right before their eyes, were willing to trust a man-made god, made by them, to finish what the Lord began, which was to lead them to the Promised Land. I would often wonder why they would be so quick to turn away from the Lord. I mean, they witnessed, with their own eyes, how God brought them out of Egypt, and the miracles he performed. And who do they turn to? A golden calf they made themselves that they knew had no power.
You Shall Have No Other God Before Me
We know God hates idolatry. Exodus 20:3 says, “You shall have no other gods before me.” It’s easy to say the Israelites, were wrong for worshiping a golden calf, or any other group that worships some gold statue, or wooden trinket, but don’t we worship idols today? We say that idolatry is anything that holds more importance to us than we put on our relationship with God. How many times have we put more importance on a job, or money, or entertainment, relationships, or even our comfort, than we put on our relationship with God. I’m not saying these things in themselves are bad. I mean these are things that most people desire, but they have to be kept in perspective. Nothing should come before our relationship with God. He doesn’t put anything above his relationship with us. He sent his own son to die on the cross for us so we could be reconciled to him.
He’s Right Here
You know, I’ve always liked taking pictures of sunsets. Sunsets, to me, just seem peaceful. It’s the end of the day, and the start of a time of rest. We can also find peace in our heart knowing that God tells us to look to Him for salvation. Al Bundy looked all over the place to find his record, only knowing the verse, “Look to me.” Well, the thing is, we don’t have to look all over the place for God. Author, Pastor, and evangelist Greg Laurie said, “Religion is man’s attempt to reach God; Christianity is God’s attempt to reach man.” Going back to Al Bundy, the record he looked so long for, and finally found, was eventually broken, when someone accidentally sat on it. Our relationship with God cannot be broken. Hebrews 13:5 says, “I will never leave you, nor forsake you.”
Pic Of The Post
The pic of this post is of a sunset. I hope you enjoy it, and the bible verse that I put along with it. It is my hope that you will find it meaningful. I put them together because like I said earlier, to me, a sunset represents peace, and there is no greater peace in knowing we can look to God for our salvation. If you’d like to view the picture, just click on the “Pic Of The Post” link. Please feel free to leave any questions or comments.