Is there something more important than human lives? Yes. The holiness of God.

Read the following disturbing account: Ex. 32:27, Then he said to them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Each man strap a sword to his side. Go back and forth through the camp from one end to the other, each killing his brother and friend and neighbor.'” The Levites did as Moses commanded, and that day about three thousand of the people died.”

God ordered some of His people to kill some of His other people. And these men killed their own brothers, their friends, and their neighbors. And these men were blessed by God (v. 29)
why? What have those who had been killed done? They were worshiping a golden calf. They gave themselves to idolatry.

This makes the hair in the back of my head rise. In fear. How often do we give ourselves to idolatry? But more distressingly, how often do we think that it’s no big deal?

We go after the idols of physical beauty, of success, of money, of reputation, of independence and freedom, etc.

And our sense of right and wrong are so whacked that we do not think they are big deal! When I realize the standard of God’s holiness, and I compare it with my own life and thoughts, I cannot help but fall on my knees and cry out, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, a sinner!” And pray that God will re-calibrate my senses so that they are aligned with God’s holiness and not the society’s acceptance.

Do you see idols all around you? We live in the United States of America. Probably the biggest idol factory in the world… (We have coined the term “American Idol!”)

We must strive for holiness. To do so, we must repent and daily come to Christ for re-calibration.

PH

Caveat: Please know that I’m not advocating that we go out and kill all those who gave themselves to idolatry. Then, we’d have to kill ourselves! This incident described in Ex. 32 was for that particular group of people for that particular time in their history. And it was commanded directly by God. Please do not think this is the norm. But it still does send the message of how important holiness of His people are to God.