Today’s Encouragement is, “But the next morning the same thing happened-Dagon had fallen face down before the Ark of the LORD again.” 1 Samuel 5:4a NLT
Before The Ark –
The Ark of the Covenant represented God’s presence on earth. It was kept in the Temple, but sometimes brought to the battlefield. And this time, they lost the battle; the ark was captured, and the Philistines set it beside their idol Dagon.
The first night, the idol Dagon fell face down before the Ark of the Lord. So the Philistines set it up again! (We have to do this occasionally with our idols!) The next day, Dagon had fallen again before the Lord and was beheaded! God sent them, and us, a clear message! There is no other God!
Today, we don’t have temples or idols of gold, and bow down to them. But we still look to, admire, and even worship things! We spend our time and money on, think about, and work for our idols. Whatever is most important can become (already is) an idol.
Examples are many and varied: sports, work, wealth, intellect, health, power, alcohol, drugs, medications, romance, sex, and so on. Even good things can become an idol, like family, spouse, church, denomination, or pastor.
My friend, we human beings are made to worship; we inherently long for something outside of ourselves for meaning and purpose.
But only God, as revealed through Jesus Christ, stands forever as worthy of our worship.
Thank You, Father, for Your mercy for us. You graciously allow us to choose what, where, and whom we will worship. Help us to choose wisely, to set aside, to behead, all our idols, and worship only You!
You are Worthy of My Praise
Vineyard Worship
https://youtu.be/hEcWkt7rxrg?si=cJZOe-m1UKvo9r0J