Third Sunday In Lent: Your Idol?



The lectionary readings for the week are:  Exodus 20:1-17, Psalm 19, 1 Corinthians 1:18-25, John 2:13-22.

The first ( The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.) and last ( Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.) verses of  Psalm 19 are two of my favorites, yet it was verses from Exodus that jumped out at me this Lent.  They are the verses that proclaim the 10 Commandments.  (Which we all know by heart, right?  Quick, what is commandment #5?)  I feel that most of us know and try to follow them (no killing, no stealing) for the most part and yet..."I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery;  you shall have no other gods before me.  You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.  You shall not bow down to them or worship them;" 

GUILTY!!!!!

Almost all of us are.  We worship at the sports altar.  We bow down in awe before Hollywood stars.  Heck, we even have a show called American Idol.  (Is that still a thing?)

I'm not condemning anyone (least of all myself), but it seems to me that we enter the half way mark of the Lenten season it might be time to at least try to put our "idols" away and focus on God.  Maybe you start the day with a prayer.  Maybe I take a few minutes in the evening to read scripture.  (Something, I confess, I rarely do.)

Before Lent is over, shouldn't we at least TRY to put the focus on God...the reason for the season?

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