Cheating on God

I once used this very image to try to teach kids that you should have no other gods. It is a very hard concept to explain and even as you get older can still be confusing. Idols is something I feel like gets talked about a lot and people don't really take into consideration what it really means. I am think of it as if you have a best friend and you are supposed to be committed to them or even a spouse and if you really love them (besides God) you aren't supposed to need anyone else or put anyone else first. Now it is not like biblical times when their idols were made out of wood and stone we don't struggle with that it is more the small things like even relationships, phones, school or temptations. 

During the reign of King Josiah, the Lord said to me, “Have you seen what faithless Israel has done? She has gone up on every high hill and under every spreading tree and has committed adultery there. I gave faithless Israel her certificate of divorce and sent her away because of all her adulteries. Yet I saw that her unfaithful sister Judah had no fear; she also went out and committed adultery. Because Israel’s immorality mattered so little to her, she defiled the land and committed adultery with stone and wood. Only acknowledge your guilt— you have rebelled against the Lord your God, you have scattered your favors to foreign gods under every spreading tree, and have not obeyed me,’ ” declares the Lord. “Return, faithless people,” declares the Lord, “for I am your husband. I will choose you—one from a town and two from a clan—and bring you to Zion. But like a woman unfaithful to her husband, so you, Israel, have been unfaithful to me,” declares the Lord. Surely the idolatrous commotion on the hills and mountains is a deception; surely in the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel. From our youth shameful gods have consumed the fruits of our ancestors’ labor— their flocks and herds, their sons and daughters. Let us lie down in our shame, and let our disgrace cover us. We have sinned against the Lord our God, both we and our ancestors; from our youth till this day we have not obeyed the Lord our God.” (Jeremiah 3:6, 8, 9, 13, 14, 20, 23-25 NIV). 

I don't think we as humans even realize the hurt and sadness God has suffered. We think He is big enough not to be hurt by our sin, which He is, but we don't think of Him as actually having feeling or possibly being upset by our sin. We must acknowledge the depth of our sin and how deep it is and the way God wants to love us but our sin blocks that. Love and forgiveness from God is our deepest need. We need to cry out to God and long for Him. He needs to be our rock and we have to let Him be our rock. There is no back up plan. The only plan in our lives is God Almighty. There is also no better plan that we should want or long for. Sometimes sin can be pretty tempting but we have to turn to God immediately when tempted and say I love this or this is great but I choose YOU. He can stop us and give us the power to not be tempted. We have to win the victory and fight for our relationship with God. All relationships require work and communication. Our relationship with God is no different. He is always listening! He is worthy of it and my heart needs Him. We have to think of it as cheating on God and seeking His forgiveness. God is pretty amazing at forgiving us because of His Son Jesus but that doesn't mean that we should sin. With God we have the power to rise above this world and turn to God and go from being tempted to immediately praising God. Our spirit has to be connected to Gods and be able to put Gods first. If we let Him have control and be in charge we will win the fight. It is a fight in our lives that will never end but will continue to get easier by His grace. God is here to help us! He was here and tempted too! 

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (Hebrews 4:15, 16 NIV). God is soooo here for us! He wants us to claim victory in Him! And we can't be victorious without Him. We have to make the decision in our hearts that God is more powerful and will heal our hearts and cleanse them of all impurities. Lets then turn to God and ask for help and receive His grace and mercy.