Today's Devotional

October 16, 2003

Subject:  Fear Him "And" Serve Him

2Kings 17:33 - "They feared the LORD, and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations whom they carried away from thence. "

Proverbs 9:10 says that, "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom."  However, it's not the end of it.  The children of Israel had been set free from Egyptian captivity by the God that they grew to know through the patriarchs like Moses.  Subsequently, they were brought back into captivity by Assyria and Babylon, two foreign kingdoms.  The kings of each of these provinces then began to bring in men who worshipped other gods and the children of Israel, who knew The God of Moses, began to serve these other gods.

It seems funny to find in a verse such a contradictory stance - "fearing God, but serving their own gods?"  That's what many believers do today.  When we say that we trust in the living God, look at God's word and then do "our own thing," we are serving our own God just as the children of Israel did.   A current example is that the world may say homosexuality is not sin and so churches may begin to allow homosexual ministers or priests.  They may fear God, but they are serving their own god.

Today, don't let the world's view keep you from being totally surrendered to God.  We were once captive to "the manner of the nations," but now have been set free.  No longer do we serve our own gods, but we fear "and" serve Him.  Yes we can fear God, but that's just the beginning.  The end is to follow in "His" ways.

Carlen