“Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry” 1 Corinthians 10:14
A friend came over to watch my latest movie I got in the mail. We ordered Chinese food to be delivered. At the bottom of the sack were two fortune cookies. I like fortune cookies. They are just sweet enough without totally wrecking my diet. I cracked mine open to see what silly fortune lay inside. I always like to look and read it, roll my eyes, then toss it away, ignoring the lotto numbers on the reverse side. This time, it was empty! No fortune. At first I felt rather cheated. Then God, in His subtle way, let me know He was teaching me a lesson.
As Christians, we are to worship only the Triune God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit, three in one. After all, the first and second commandments instruct believers to have no other god before Him and not to worship idols. Today, we don’t sacrifice to Egyptian, Roman or Greek gods and goddesses, or bow down to Baal, but idol worship is still prevalent in many subtle ways in our culture.
Like reading a fortune from a fortune cookie. Have you read your horoscope in the newspaper? Do you avoid ladders or black cats? Habits and traditions seep in. It may sound innocent enough, but each time, it is chipping a little chink in the armor of the Spirit of God. Whether we realize it or not, each time we turn our attention away from His control over our lives there’s a slight indentation from an arrow aimed at our faith, a crack that lets in a tiny bit of temptation. No big deal, or is it?
The next time you wish upon a shooting star, blow on a dandelion, throw salt over your shoulder, knock on wood, read your horoscope or crack open a fortune cookie, think about it. God is a jealous god. He wants us to rely on Him and remember He is Lord over our lives, our thoughts and our actions. A fortune-less cookie became a fortunate lesson for me. It was a reiteration that my Lord is all I need. Jesus told us not to be anxious about our futures but to seek first the righteousness of God. (Matthew 6)
Next time, I’ll pray for another empty cookie! I still like to eat them.
Question: What are you relying on instead of God’s Word?
By Julie Cosgrove
Used by Permission
FURTHER READING
• Shunning Materialism – by John Grant
• Trusting God or the World – by John Grant
• Living Beyond the Darkness – by Jan Stewart