I have heard it said that you could determine what you value by looking at your checkbook. I would assume very few of us carry a checkbook registry with us anymore. When I was younger, I remember paying for most things by check. When you would get to your car or back home, you would record the expense in a register kept in front of your checkbook. You kept up with your balance and recorded your spending. Although we may not carry a check register with us, the principle can still apply. Looking through your spending habits can point to what you value.
God has led the children of Israel out of captivity from Egyptian bondage. He has called them to be His unique nation, a kingdom of priests as He gives them His instruction and establishes His covenant with them at Mount Sinai. Almost immediately, they break His word.
"Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make us gods that shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” And Aaron said to them, “Break off the golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” So all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron. And he received the gold from their hand, and he fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molded calf. Then they said, “This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!” So when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord.” Then they rose early on the next day, offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play."
Exodus 32: 1-6
They immediately broke God’s first two commandments:
You shall have no other gods before Me. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth."
Exodus 20: 3-4
After seeing all that God had done for them, how He had delivered them from the hand of their oppressors, it’s almost difficult to understand how they could so quickly turn away from His words. Today, we may not melt our rings and fashion golden calves to worship but do we elevate things in our lives above the Lord?
How is it that we spend our time?
What is it that we value?
These are good questions to ask ourselves, as we determine our priorities and what matters most to us. We need to arrange our lives so that we set the Lord apart in our lives, above all else. Let us work to honor Him and His word with our lives as we should.
notes:
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
bio: Steve and Brenda have been married for the past twenty-seven years and have three beautiful daughters. In addition to producing content for and managing SimplyRevised, Steve is the preaching minister at Southbelt Church of Christ located in Pasadena, TX.