The Almighty Afterthought?

They feared the Lord and served their own gods according to the custom of the nations from among whom they had been carried away into exile. – 2 Kings 17:33

When considering the gradual fall of ancient Israel (that eventually led to their destruction), I began to wonder, “What exactly was the ‘key’ to their failure?”

Perhaps, it was compromise. In their desire to please everyone, to fit in with culture, they forgot to please God. Though they claimed to worship the Lord, their lifestyles indicated a continued and consistent need to serve gods of their own making.

We have a lot of “gods” in the world today. For example, we worship (give glory and honor to) sport, celebrity, and our own recreation. While God may be a “part” of our lives, He does not seem to be LIFE itself. Too often, God is a part of something we “do,” but not the very essence or meaning of the lives we lead. He lives, but perhaps not in us or through us.

In Christ Jesus, the Holy Spirit should invade every fiber of a believer’s being. Every moment, whether consciously or not, should bear the brand marks of His presence. Daily disciplines, like prayer, Scripture reading, and service, are actions that also place God in the forefront of our lives.

Is the Sovereign, truly Lord or has He become the Almighty Afterthought?

The God of the modern evangelical rarely astonishes anybody. He manages to stay pretty much with the constitution. Never break our by-laws. He’s a very well-behaved God and very denominational and very much like one of us. We ask Him to help us when we’re in trouble and look to Him to watch over us when we’re asleep. The God of the modern evangelical isn’t a God I could have much respect for. – A. W. Tozer