How cold is it INSIDE today?

OK, so I am getting a taste of my own medicine today.  We are in the middle of a cold snap, and yesterday’s low was -36C (-32F) with a wind chill temperature of -48C (-54F).   As I thought about the “cold,”  I remembered that scientists do not define cold, but rather define temperature by measuring the amount of heat present.

In the same way, we Christians should measure our spiritual temperature by how HOT we are toward God. AS I studied for last Sunday’s message, I came a cross the following verse.

Ezekiel 20:39  As for you, O house of Israel, thus saith the Lord GOD; Go ye, serve ye every one his idols, and hereafter also, if ye will not hearken unto me: but pollute ye my holy name no more with your gifts, and with your idols.

It is incredible to me that we should have so completely missed the boat in this matter of separation.  Here God tells the people to rebel if they want to, but to quit polluting His name by bringing gifts while living in idolatry.  After reading that verse, and related verses on idolaty, I was convicted once again of the hideous nature of a divided heart.  Look at what God calls idolatry in Scripture:

i.     2Chronicles 21:11-13    Whoredom

ii.     Jeremiah 2:19-21          Fornication

iii.     Hosea 4:12-14             Adultery

iv.     Ezekiel 20:39                Pollutions

v.     1Peter 4:3                       Abomination

vi.     Deut 16:22                   Hateful

You see, the comparison of idolatry to sexual sins is no accident.  God used strong words to make a point. Hosea 4:12-14 is especially powerful, as God calls idol worshippers whores and harlots.  Read the verses!

Hosea 4:12-14  My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them: for the spirit of whoredoms hath caused them to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their God. They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because the shadow thereof is good: therefore your daughters shall commit whoredom, and your spouses shall commit adultery. I will not punish your daughters when they commit whoredom, nor your spouses when they commit adultery: for themselves are separated with whores, and they sacrifice with harlots: therefore the people that doth not understand shall fall.

Are we getting the point?  It is not the amount of time spent with a prostitute that makes you an adulterer, but the fact that you departed from your wife.  Even if it was only for a time, is it any less a sin?

And is a divided heart any less an idolatrous heart, even if it is only occasional?

May we repent, and turn our hearts fully to God.