When Idols Fall Don’t Prop Them Up | 1 Samuel 5:3-4

Are you propping up an idol?

Welcome to the Daily Devo. I am Vince Miller.

This week, we are reading 1 Samuel 5. I've titled this chapter "Clearing The Path To Glory."

Yesterday, we discovered that the Philistines captured the Ark of the Covenant and took it back to Ashdod, setting it up in the temple of Dagon. The following day, the people awoke to find that Dagon had fallen prostrate before the Ark. Despite their shock, they propped him back up. They then discovered this in verses 3-4:

So they took Dagon and put him back in his place. But when they rose early on the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the Lord, and the head of Dagon and both his hands were lying cut off on the threshold. Only the trunk of Dagon was left to him. — 1 Samuel 5:3-4

A Battle of Gods

So, the same mysterious event occurs overnight, but this time, his head and hands are chopped off. The picture that plays in my mind is of two deities battling in this temple, and God takes a sword and chops off Dagon's head and hands.

I know that in our time and our country, we don't prop up idols in the same way. Our idols are not man-made objects of stone and wood but are just as consuming.

Propped-Up Idols

More often than not, our idols are the ideologies we prop up in our minds. We prop up ideas, beliefs, and pursuits that consume our thoughts, time, and energy. Eventually, these propped-up idols establish strongholds of worship within our minds. Eventually, the pursuit of wealth, success, titles, and fame becomes our primary focus in thought and conversation. Possessions, achievements, and conquests dominate every conversation. Consequently, we become enslaved to our idolatrous ideology and its need for approval, validation, and acceptance from others. We mold our lives and identities around these propped-up ideas until they are abandoned on the threshing floor with their head and hands lopped off.

Cutting Down Idols

This is the hard-learned lesson of propped-up idols. If we have propped up an idol in our minds for too long, challenging it will require us to rethink everything. When they fall, we are prone to prop them up because we have become accustomed to them. Dealing with them is too much work when we have constructed our lives based on them. Only when the idol is cut down and chopped up do we face the fact that they can no longer be propped up, and we need to rethink the idols we have made in our minds.

This is what the people of Ashdod were probably thinking to themselves—who is this God, and what will we do with him now that he has slaughtered Dagon?

Stop Propping; Start Cutting

But let's get practical: What idol do you need to stop propping up today? What idol stands between you and God? Tracing it back should be easy. You talk about it a lot. You think about it all the time. If you lost it, you would lose yourself. So what is it? Can you name it? If you know it, remember that you don't merely need to stop propping it up. You need to cut off its head and hands and come to the Lord before who stands no idol.

#IdolsExposed, #ClearingThePath, #SeekingGod'sGlory

Ask This: Reflect on the idols in your life: What beliefs, pursuits, or ideologies consume your thoughts, time, and energy? How can you start acknowledging and confronting these idols in your life?

 

Consider the implications of propping up idols: What practical steps can you take today to confront and dismantle the idols that stand between you and a deeper relationship with God? How can you refocus your thoughts and actions on seeking God's glory above all else? Do This:

Cut down an idol today.

Pray This:

Lord, help me identify and confront the idols in my life, surrendering them to You completely. Guide me in prioritizing Your glory above all else as I seek to align my thoughts and actions with Your will. Amen.

Play This:

No One Else (Tear Down The Idols).