theologer

Okay I just wanted to update my thoughts on this whole wife becoming Roman Catholic deal. I posted briefly here.

And want to say after further reading it was much less one-sided than I originally read. My new view of what went down is available in the forums.

"And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him." - Hebrews 11:6

I love that he rewards those who seek Him. I cant always pull it together, but I always hope He has grace for those who are earnestly seeking. I want to seek God. To seek Him more than comfort, wisdom, even knowledge, fame, peace, health. All things I've worshipped.

Help me Father, to seek you.

For class I'm reading The Faith of Israel by William J. Dumbrell and in his section on the book of Kings he sort of passively says this:

"Elijah throws down the gauntlet, and the issue of Yahweh or Baal (a choice which may well have puzzled the average Isrelite, who seemed to have identified Yahweh with Baal) is settled on mount Carmet [1 Kings 18]" p97.

I stopped in my reading and thought, "WHAT? Israelites got Baal and Yahweh confused?" Which apparently was true simply because Baal simply meant master or Lord. In 1 Chronicles 12:5 we even find a name Baalia (or Be`aliah) which apparently means "Yahweh is Baal" (see this or this for reference).

This made me wonder if I ever get God confused with an idol. I'm sure something could be said about catholic worship of/prayer to the Virgin Mary or people who end up eventually worshiping the cross or a picture of Jesus rather than Jesus himself. But I cant come up with any concrete ideas myself, which scares me because I bet it is something I do.

I do remember meeting a guy who told me he thought music was God and then claimed he worshiped God when he played music because by making music he was creating God. It was something confusing and convoluted like that, but I suppose that would fall into the same category.

Anyhow, I mostly just wanted to point this out because it was a shock to me to hear God was ever confused with a false God, and the Israelites see a sharp contrast real quick when Elijah calls down fire from heaven and Baal does nothing. I hope there are things in our life which clear up to us who God is vs. who we think God is.

I've been reading a book which tries to relate the Old Testament to the New by explaining the foreshadowing in the Law of Moses and how it relates to Christ. Something I just read today which intrigued me was an argument that the first commandment really sums up all of our sin. That when Adam and Eve ate the apple in the garden they were really turning from God as the ultimate power and their Lord and trusting something else could bring them satisfaction... Something we do everyday.

I think of the sins that are so prevalent today and the two that really stand out for me (at least as man) are the love of money and the love of sex. Serving mammon or sex is putting your faith in something other than the Lord. They're both idols.

This may seem obvious to you but it has never been put in such clear language for me before.

This also helps me to understand something I've learned in the last few years, which is the key to freedom from sin. The key is to stop trying to just not sin. If you just keep focusing on that you'll never succeed because you begin to worship something other than God. You think Not Sinning will bring you satisfaction. But this isn't what we're looking for. What we're looking for is God despite our sin. When we take our eyes off our sin and put them on the Lord, we seem to actually see freedom from our sin. Because that is when we are finally worshiping what is right and good....

Why is this not taught as essential to our lives? After salvation of our souls, this is THE gospel. Is it not?