You are currently browsing the monthly archive for March 2009.
What are the “high places” in your life?
In biblical times, pagan religions built holy shrines to their plethora of gods on top of high hills to show their importance and so that all could see them. The land around Jerusalem was very hilly and many of these shrines to false gods dotted the landscape.
When the Israelites conquered the Promised Land—land promised to them by God—He warned them to avoid acting like the natives in that land. God told them to destroy all forms of idol worship and images of false gods.
The need to blend?
Many Israelites obeyed this command, but many others “felt the need” to blend in with the culture of the conquered country. Some left the high places standing and in time started using this pagan system to worship the pagan gods and sometimes even try to “honor” the one true God. They did this despite God’s direct command to never do it!
The “high places” survived for many generations. The Bible records how various kings of Israel did not remove them—whether they were “dedicated” to the God of Israel or to other foreign gods of the land. King Hezekiah was an exception to the list of kings who neglected their duty before God (2 Kings 18:1-7). Unfortunately, his son returned to the evil traditions of the past.
In our modern times we don’t often consider these things. Yet the principles involved in these ancient trends still apply today. The nature of humanity has not changed. Historically we see over and over that radical, positive reform and a complete return to the true God of the Bible did not happen without the total destruction of the sinful high places of the past. God was not pleased even when the Israelites “worshipped” Him by using pagan, idolatrous practices to do so—because that pseudo-worship was built on traces of sin.
Modern high places
Today, we may not have physical shrines or idols to various gods, but we do have “high places” in our lives. Our high places can be traces of past sins that still take a place in our lives or our culture of choice.
Just as the ancient physical high places represented spiritual ungodliness enticing the Israelites to sin, so we have things that tempt us to go back to behaviors contrary to God. Consider just two examples:
- Movies full of filthy language or inappropriate content still lying around our house.
- Illegally downloaded music files on our computer or MP3 player.
If we believe God’s way of living, then we should get rid of them so we’re not tempted to watch or listen to them again.
King Hezekiah’s example
You can “follow” God and strive to be a good person, but harboring traces of sin in your life can prevent you from becoming great. King Hezekiah was a great king in God’s service. His example is one to follow by deleting those things from your life that go against God’s way.
Let’s tear down our high places! VT
- About the Author -
Corbin Rose is an Ambassador Bible Center graduate and is now finishing his degree in graphic design and communication.
“And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold” (Matthew 24:12).
What did Jesus Christ mean when He used these words to describe the cold love of our society shortly before His return to earth?
The Bible defines love
Greek, the original language of the New Testament, has three main words to define different aspects of love. These words and their meanings are…
- Agape: sacrificial love, unselfish affection and outgoing concern for others.
- Eros: romantic love, as between a husband and wife.
- Phileo: brotherly love, as between good friends.
Christ used agape to explain that in the last days—our days now—people would not be expressing outgoing, unselfish affection and concern for others. Instead, they would be self-consumed and cold toward others.
And this is happening now. Pick up the newspaper. Turn on the television news. Scan the headlines on the Web. Listen to the commercials during your favorite television program. Increasingly, you will see self-absorption rather than outgoing concern.
How to avoid cold love
In this environment, how can we keep our love from growing cold? The most obvious answer: Ask God for help to develop our ability to express the outgoing concern of agape type love.
What other practical steps can we take? While there are many good answers, I want to cover just one.
We are all heavily influenced by what we see on television and the Internet. It may surprise you to realize that a part of keeping your love spiritually hot is to watch positive and encouraging things. Look for things that will help you think beyond yourself. Consider:
- There was the story of Jason McElwain, a Rochester, New York, high school student with autism. To reward Jason’s enthusiasm and dedication as manager of the varsity basketball team, Coach Jim Johnson allowed him to play the last four minutes of a division title game. McElwain caught fire, hitting six straight three-point shots and sending the crowd into frenzied celebration (video here).
- There were the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, which brought many uplifting stories of both personal and collective triumph. One of the more inspiring advertisements in a series sponsored by Visa featured the unmistakable voice of American actor Morgan Freeman speaking these words (video here):
“Maybe it’s not where an athlete is from that makes us root for them. Maybe it’s not the flag on their back, or the anthem that we hear when they win that makes us cheer. Maybe it’s simply that they are human, and we are human; and when they succeed, we succeed.”
- Just recently there was the incredible story of US Airways Flight 1549, which was forced to land in New York’s Hudson River when both engines failed shortly after takeoff due to a “bird strike.” Miraculously, Captain Chesley Sullenberger landed the plane safely. All 155 passengers and the entire flight crew survived the incident. The television news magazine60 Minutes provided an excellent account of this inspiring story (video here).
Vertical thinking video filter
In the Bible God gave us a filter to help decide what to watch on television and the Internet: “Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things” (Philippians 4:8).
If we do this, we will be taking one more step toward keeping our love from growing cold—and one more step toward true vertical thinking! VT
- About the Author -
David Cobb attends the Indianapolis, Indiana, congregation of the United Church of God with his wife, Mandie, and daughter, HannahBeth. He works at Cummins Inc. in engineering drafting.
