Scripture

Lord had said to Moses, “Say to the children of Israel, ‘You are a stiff-necked people. I could come up into your midst in one moment and consume you. Now therefore, take off your ornaments, that I may know what to do to you.’ ”So the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by Mount Horeb.

~Exodus 33:5-6, NKJV

Quote

When a man realizes his sinfulness before God, and is willing to be stripped of that which is displeasing to the Almighty, true repentance has been initiated.

~Martyn Lloyd Jones

The children of Israel had sinned. I am not talking about a white lie or stealing a candy bar. These stiff-necked sons of Jacob had impatiently refused to wait on God and in an act of pure rebellion they made themselves a god. This god that they created was made from their jewelry, the gold ornaments that they had taken from the Egyptians. They looted Egypt before leaving and proudly adorned themselves with expensive ornaments as they marched through the wilderness. If you had been poor all your life and then suddenly came into wealth, how would you handle it? The Israelites didn’t handle very well. When Moses confronted them with their sin and rebellion against God, they became afraid. Moses helped them to understand that God is like a consuming fire and that He was angry over what they had done. Since they did at this time have a healthy fear of God, they repented and stripped themselves of all their expensive jewelry. I don’t think it was the gold that offended God; it was their misuse of the gold by making it their god. By stripping themselves, they were removing the temptation.

What does God see in us that is displeasing? Have we made gold our god? Are we worshipping the gift instead of the giver. Hebrews 12:1 comes to mind, Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. What sin keeps tripping you up? We all have besetting sins. Are we willing to strip ourselves of these sins that are offensive to God so that we can run with patience and finish the race that God has set before us.

If you are like me; you know there are things that need to go; idols we need to lay aside, sins that keep tripping. us up but you struggle to lay them down. I find myself praying, “LORD, you crush my idols. It is only by grace that I can strip myself of these offensive habits.”

An old song came to mind…Lay It All At The Feet Of Jesus

Bring your worry, grief and pain
Every cause you have for shame
lay it all down, lay it all down
When your cares have buried you
and there’s nothing left to do
lay it all down lay it all down
at the feet of Jesus.

Carried on but your heart was tired
Feared the worst and felt the fire
lay it all down, lay it all down
Filled with all those anxious thoughts
all your doubts became your god
lay it all down, lay it all down
at the feet of Jesus.

When we’ve given up on better days
there are memories we can’t erase
lay it all down, lay it all down
We’ve come to fear what we can’t explain
there’s nothing here that can ease the pain
lay it all down, lay it all down
at the feet of Jesus, at the feet of Jesus

Extra

Another busy day. We have a concrete job this morning. It is small {5 yards} but that is plenty for an old man. Holly refuses to help. She said I hollowed at her too much on the last Job. I hope you have a great Friday and thanks for reading the blog.