From today’s reading...
Israel was a luxuriant vine yielding plenty of fruit. The more his fruit increased, the more altars he built; the richer his land became, the richer he made the sacred pillars.” Hosea 10:1
When I first read this, I thought, “What’s wrong with building altars?,” thinking they were altars to God, but they weren’t.
Jews had (and still have) synagogues, smaller places of worship within their local communities, and the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. (The Holy Temple is what is referenced as being destroyed several times in the Bible.)
So a practicing Jew would not build a random altar to worship God, so the altars the Israelites were making with their growing material wealth were altars to pagan gods, thus Hosea’s warning to them…and to you and me.
“But Wes, we’re not building altars to pagan gods with our prosperity.”
Oh really? What about “American Idol” or the $5.5 billion SoFi Stadium, the $4.3 billion Resorts World casino, or the $70.3 million Legacy Stadium in Katy, TX—a high school football stadium!
The proliferation of pagan altars is so extensive and accepted that we don’t even notice their impact and influence on us today.
Want to take a family of four to Disneyland for two days on a Park Hopper pass? That’ll be $1,230 just for the tickets. Travel, lodging, food, and Mickey Mouse ears are extra.
Want new iPhones for that same family of four? That’ll be $4,000 plus $200/mo for service.
Want to binge all of your favorite shows? That’ll be another $150/mo once you get all the streaming services.
See where I’m going with this?
Our altars and distractions are everywhere. I call it “pot, porn, and playoffs” have become our new “bread and circus.”
Listen to Hosea.
Just say no to pagan altars. Please don’t allow the luxuries of our modern life to steal your soul.
Keep the main thing, the main thing, which is your obedience to God. It’s the only way to...
Stay the course.
Keep the faith.
Endure.
Now go sell something.