CREATED TO WORSHIP

USGN article
by Barbi Franklin
July 1998

When God created humankind, He made us with an innate need to worship and have fellowship with Himself, the Creator. The problem is, with the fall of man came a deterioration of God's intentions for man's purpose. Now, along with our sin nature has come a shift in our focus of worship: Now, we fight the "old nature" that wants to replace God as our center of worship. When we focus our worship on other people, material possessions, or even ourselves, God calls it "idolatry."

Though Gideon was a great example to all of us as a valiant warrior who won a great battle in the power of God, he struggled with the temptations of self-worship. After God won the battle for Gideon with a measly 300 men, the people worshiped Gideon and begged him to become their ruler. Modestly, Gideon turned them down, pointing them to God as their true leader . . . or did he really?

It was then that the force of the flatteries of the people drew him to compromise. Though Gideon's conscience couldn't accept blatant self-exaltation, he cloaked his inner motives and desires for adulation by settling for a less conspicuous alternative. He decided to gather the plunder of gold with which he made an ephod and then proceeded to exalt it in the center of town in his honor. And the Bible says, "All Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his family" (Judges 8:27b).

Eventually, Gideon's compromise led the entire nation of Israel back into Baal worship. Are we leading others astray by accepting the flatteries of man, or are we strong enough to point people to our true focus of worship?!

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©1998 Terry & Barbi Franklin.