With their silver and gold, they made idols, so that they will be cut off.

— Hosea 8:4

There are more denunciations of idolatry than any other sin in the Bible. Though this sin runs deep in the human psyche, and there is a great tendency to idolatry in the human heart, and though this dark stream seems to flow dangerously in the cold subterranean caverns of the fallen soul, it is something that has been followed by a continual stream of condemnation and denunciation by poets and prophets, by preachers and apostles, down through the centuries.

Not only did they worship idols in Moses’ day, but we read further on that Jeroboam doubled the sin by creating a golden calf in Dan and another in Bethel for the people to worship. All over Israel there arose on the high places—on every hill, in every clump of trees—an altar so people could rush up the hills and worship their gods and bring down upon themselves the increasing wrath of almighty God until at length the patience of God was exhausted.

The hordes of Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar swept across the plains of Israel, broke down the walls of Jerusalem, and led the people off into captivity. It was in that burning furnace of slavery in Babylon that the last dredges of idolatry were largely burned away.

Question to ponder:
John Calvin said our hearts are idol-making factories. Why is that?

… for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

— Psalm 23:4

Some people are amazed to find out that the great and the mighty of the world are often in need of comfort and consolation. Handel began his Messiah with the words “Comfort ye, comfort ye my people” because this verse of Scripture was dear to his heart. Luther pondered Isaiah 40 over and over again when he was in prison at the castle in Wartburg. Oliver Cromwell also went to it for help in time of storm. The great Daniel Webster was mighty in debate, and yet his heart was often grieved, and he read this passage again and again. Tennyson called it one of the five great classics in the Old Testament record.

We all need comfort. High and low, prince and pauper, none of us can live life to the full without this solace from Him who is the God of all comfort (2 Corinthians 1:3).

One young seminarian was filled with vim and vigor. He was coming like Daniel to the judgment and was ready to let his flock have it. He told an elderly minister who replied, “But don’t forget to preach comfort. Remember that those people in the pews have heartaches and problems and fears. Always preach comfort.” Indeed, in this day how great is that need for comfort!

Question to ponder:
What Scripture do you read when you need comfort?

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

— Psalm 91:1

Brother Lawrence, who wrote the famous little booklet, The Practice of the Presence of God, made that marvelous discovery to such a degree that he became the wonder of Europe. Kings and princes, cardinals and popes visited him to learn his secret. Was he a philosopher? A count? A theologian? No, he was a dishwasher. That’s right. A dishwasher and a waiter.

Kings visited him because his reputation had spread all over the world. A reputation for what? For peace—for an almost miraculous serenity in the midst of the clamoring of the people who were crying for his services and complaining about this and that and the other. In spite of all of the demands on him, he seemed to float through life in a bubble of peace.

In his marvelous booklet, Brother Lawrence tells how through much trial, effort, and labor, he learned how to stay his mind upon God. Then, when he was turned away from whatever might demand his immediate attention, his mind automatically seemed to turn to its resting place and his thoughts to God. His mind was stayed on God, and God kept him in perfect peace.

Question to ponder:
How can we practice God’s presence?

… to an incorruptible and undefiled inheritance that does not fade away, kept in heaven for you, …

— 1 Peter 1:4

I was talking recently in my office to a young lady who had just accepted Christ. I told her that she was now the child of God and that she was, furthermore, the heir of God. I said, “Do you realize that you have just become an heiress?”

She looked very puzzled, so I opened my Bible to the New Testament and showed her the front page which had the heading on it, “The New Testament of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.” I said, “Did you notice the word? This is the last will and testament of Almighty God, and you have become His heir. You are written into God’s will. The Bible says that we are the heirs of God, and joint heirs with Jesus Christ.”

Well, it would be, I suppose, a great thing to be written into the will of some fabulously wealthy man. However, my friends, we have something more marvelous than that. We are written into the will of God, if we have received Jesus Christ and we belong to Him. We are the heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. All things are ours; whether in this life or the world to come (see I Corinthians 3:21-23), and we know that “My God shall supply all of your needs out of His riches in glory” (Philippians 4:19).

Question to ponder:
What is the inheritance kept for you in heaven?

These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, …

— Acts 17:6

In many places in the world, Christians have made a tremendous impact for good. A handful of people can help ignite a city. Today, a city full of Christians seems to have little impact.

Why is the Church seemingly so impotent in today’s society, whereas in the early centuries, it transformed the pagan Roman Empire? One of the reasons could be that these people took the lordship of Jesus Christ seriously. They committed themselves to Him as Lord. They knew what a lord was. In the Roman world, to be a servant, doulos, meant that you gave up your will completely; you had no preferences of what you would like yourself. You were the servant of a master, the kurios.

Where are the Christians in our society? It just so happens that evangelical Christianity is generally not making the laws in the Senate or in the Congress; they are not sitting on the Supreme Court; they are not generally the ones making motion pictures in Hollywood; they are not the ones running our television networks.

This is something very obvious. Though Christianity is growing in this country, it is still far from being the controlling force or even that influential.

The question is not a matter of numbers, but the level of commitment.

Question to ponder:
Can you think of a new way to serve God?

To the pure, all things are pure. But to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure. Even their minds and consciences are defiled.

— Titus 1:15

Hollywood producers may tell you, “Well, you see, we are just a reflection of reality. We’re just revealing what the country is like.”

The truth of the matter is that they do reflect a portion of reality. They reflect what is going on in the gutter, what is going on in the sewer and a few of the other worst places in the country. Then they spread that vileness over the entire nation. They are not just reflecting reality. They are pushing their favorite kind of reality—the reality that appeals to their depraved minds.

We do not have to accept their version of reality. Yes, there is evil, and yes, there is ugliness. But we as Christians know that purity, innocence, goodness, and kindness exist too.

Just recently there has been a trend of good and moral movies coming and generally doing well, to the surprise of the Hollywood elite. Let us support what is good and decent and avoid what is not.

Question to ponder:
What good movie have you seen recently (if any)? What made it good?

But every priest stands daily ministering and repetitively offering the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God.

— Hebrews 10:11-12

Only the High Priest could enter into the Holy of Holies, and that but once a year, and then not without the blood of the sacrifice that was to be sprinkled onto the mercy seat.

What was in that Holy of Holies? There was the Ark of the Covenant. Within it were found the two tables of the Law written by the very hand of Jehovah. Those laws, looking upward, cried out against the transgressions of men against the commandments. On the top of the Ark was the mercy seat, covered in pure gold. Once a year on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, the High Priest entered into the Holy of Holies and sprinkled blood on the mercy seat of the atonement.

On either end of that Ark, gold-covered cherubim faced inward. Between those cherubim there dwelt the presence of the Almighty God. There the broken law cried out for vengeance upon the transgressors, and it was only the blood of the atonement that blocked it out. That is a great picture of Christ who entered the Holy of Holies in Heaven itself with His own blood to make atonement for our sins. There is the secret place of the most High God, where mercy is meted out through the death of the Sacrifice.

Question to ponder:
How is Jesus Christ both our High Priest and sacrifice?

A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, …

— Proverbs 13:22

What kind of spiritual heritage are you leaving or have you left your children? If you look back through the great names of God’s people, you will find that in many cases their testimony is that whatever they are, they owe it to the prayers of their parents in family devotion times around the family altar when they were children.

The saintly Matthew Henry says in his own testimony that whatever there may be of good about him, he contributes it in a large part to his godly home and praying parents who gathered the children together each day for the worship of God.

I think of Patrick Henry, who wrote this in his Last Will and Testament: “I have now disposed of all my property to my family; there is one thing more I wish I could give them, and that is the Christian religion. If they had that, and I had not given them one shilling, they would be rich, and if they had not that, and I had given them all the world, they would be poor.”

Question to ponder:
What would you like to leave to your children?

How long, O Sovereign Lord, holy and true …?

— Revelation 6:10

Some years ago, I went through a trial worse than anything I’d ever known. In the midst of that ordeal, many cries went up from my heart: “How long, O God?” In all of that, there was the belief that God is the sovereign Lord, that He is the infinite, all-powerful One who holds the reins of the world in His hand. Even beyond that, He is a loving and merciful God and therefore there was a purpose and a reason for all that happened. Furthermore, I believed that ultimately He would work all things together for my good.

One of the greatest books on suffering from a Christian perspective was first published in 1856 and retranslated into English in 2002. The book is by a Calvinistic French pastor, Adolphe Monod. His book is a series of sermons, which he delivered as he was dying of cancer. The book is Living in the Hope of Glory (translated by Constance K. Walker). Monod said that whatever we need, we have in Christ, even if we’re suffering the pangs of death: “He will never deprive me of any good except to give me some other, better one.” He also noted, “Having Christ we have all things …”

Question to ponder:
God is good, and God is sovereign. How do these two truths comfort us?

You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.

— Isaiah 26:3 NKJV

Anxiety. Fear. Worry. We live in a time of “men’s hearts failing them for fear” (Luke 21:26 NKJV). If you are like most Americans, you have to confess that you are often troubled by many things. People are anxious and worried; peace is elusive and never lasts.

How much serenity do we have? The word “serenity” is not found in the Bible, but it conveys the concept in words that mean the same thing. The Bible talks about “peace” and “rest” and “quiet”—something most people experience very little of. Shalom is the word in the Bible for the peace that includes security and wholeness.

How tragic that millions who have never found the solution to the sin problem are trying to find serenity in some other way. It can never, ever be done, my friends. It just will not work. You have to have the forgiveness of God before you can have serenity and peace of mind. Christ Jesus is the Prince of Peace, and He offers us the peace of God.

This is perhaps one of the reasons Paul greets his readers with “Grace and peace.” Without grace, there is no peace.

Question to ponder:
How can a person be serene in the midst of chaos?